


Finders, Keepers...

by MessyInsomniacBookGirl



Category: Loki - Fandom, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Humor, Avenger Loki (Marvel), Awesome Darcy Lewis, BAMF Darcy Lewis, Darcy Lewis's Taser, Darcy Lewis-centric, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Hacker Darcy Lewis, Humor, Implied/Referenced Torture, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), Loki is dead, Mention of attempted rape, Mentions of Myth & Folklore, Post Avengers Infinity War, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Threats of Violence, Torture, Violence, Wait What?, but not, mention of violence, mentions of gore, tasertricks - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2020-01-31 06:25:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 67,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18585619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MessyInsomniacBookGirl/pseuds/MessyInsomniacBookGirl
Summary: Darcy Lewis just lost her best friend in the whole world, and she's not having it. None of it.She makes her way to the Avengers facility in upstate New York looking for answers. And it might be a facility which she is not supposed to know about, because she's only a civilian; but hey, what else is she supposed to use those hacker skills for? Right?This will be a Darcy/Loki pairing.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's not like I don't have nine other stories to write... Right? 
> 
> This is a tale that has been dancing around my mind for a while, and it chose Easter break to force its way out and onto my computer.
> 
> Happy reading!

**Chapter 1**

 

April 2018, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, upstate New York.

_‘Pleasepleaseplease, someone please be there...’_ Pressing the intercom button to the side of the massive, reinforced steel gate repeatedly, Darcy kept up her mantra of pleading. She had no idea who or what she was directing her pleas towards. All she could do was hope that there would be an answer in some way or another. Her irregular, stressed out breaths conjured plumes of white condensation in the freezing night air. She’d been standing next to the intercom for at least ten minutes and no-one yet had answered her frantic button pushing. Leaning sideways against the rough concrete, she let her head rest against it and closed her eyes, tears burning behind the lids. By now she held the button down continuously. _‘Pleasepleasepleaseplease, don’t all be gone... Pleasepleasepl-’_

When she was about to give up and return to her car for a much needed cry and mental break down, there suddenly was movement. The gate slid open silently, but only a foot or so, and a slender silhouette was visible in the gap between reinforced concrete and steel.

A low, and almost hypnotic female voice spoke to her. ‘Who are you? What are you doing here?’ The dark silhouette stayed standing behind the gap in the gateway, giving Darcy no chance to try and slip through.

Narrowing her eyes, Darcy peered through the cracked lenses of her glasses towards the female, cursing the fact that she’d turned off the lights of the car when she drove up to the gate. She knew it had already been a huge risk to keep them lit on her ride through the woods and she hadn’t dared to keep them on any longer than necessary. She’d needed the light to find her way, because there was no moon, and the canopy of the forest suffocated any and all other light that could have lit her way. Only because she’d finally been close enough to the Avengers facility had she chanced keeping the lights on; had she chanced driving the last stretch after dark. Having the car’s headlights on at night had been a mistake she’d made only once, early in her trip across the US. And she’d paid dearly for it.

She’d only just passed the outer city limits of Vallejo, California, and was well on her way to Sacramento when she had been robbed of the car she’d ‘borrowed’ from the lot at Stanford University. The thieves had taken all the provisions she’d ‘gathered’ from the university vending machines and from the water dispenser that stood in the hallway outside the lecture hall she’d been in when the world had ended. They had also relieved her of the two jerrycans of gas she’d managed to syphon off from the abandoned cars in the university parking lot.

Without any warning, she’d been overtaken and pushed off the road by an old, but heavy Chevy truck. It had come out of nowhere. How stupid she’d been not to lock the doors of her car when she finally came to a standstill. Looking back, one always had 20/20 vision. Too bad she’d had to learn the hard way that staying under the radar, which meant being as quiet and invisible as possible, and avoiding the bigger towns and cities, was a far more desirable skill to have than being able to see when driving at night. Ever since, she’d made sure to set off at dawn, and drive until dusk, with as little stops as necessary; driving through the smaller towns at breakneck speeds, and finding a place to hide before nightfall. She counted herself lucky that the burly men who had stolen the small Toyota and her provisions, only left her at the side of the road with a couple of bruised ribs, a dislocated arm, a bloody nose, a black eye, and a bruised ego. It could have ended so much worse.

After Jane had dissolved into ashes in front of her during the astrophysics lecture the woman hadbeen giving, and with her more than half of the other people in the hall, Darcy had known that the world was up shit creek without a paddle. When she’d ran outside, behind all the other people who had been inside the hall, she’d witnessed cars crashing into each-other, their drivers gone; she’d seen more people going up in ashes in the university square, and she’d gasped for air, horrified when planes started dropping from the sky, near and far, causing huge, fiery explosions as they crashed. Panic had reigned all over campus. 

Strangely enough, part of her mind had felt detached from the situation, and her brain had started categorising priorities. She was going to need water, food, transportation, and maybe a weapon other than her trusted taser. In that order.

In her mind there had been only one safe place to go in the whole of the US, and that was the Avengers facility in upstate New York. If anyone had answers to what had happened, it would be them. Hopefully. 

And so she’d set off from Stanford, violently pushing away the feelings of loss and horror that had been elicited by witnessing the death of her BFF, honorary sister, and platonic life partner, Jane Foster. By now, that was the only way to describe Jane in her opinion; they had been together ever since Thor crashed into their lives, over seven years ago, the two of them traveling across the planet, researching, adventuring, and in the down times just living life together while Jane lectured at one university or another, and Darcy worked towards her BSc in computer sciences, which she found out she had a knack for while interning for Jane, and which she had decided to pursue after attaining her political science masters degree. Turned out that helping Thor save the world from evil space elves had given her enough ‘fame’ for a few universities to offer her a scholarship. One of which she had gratefully accepted. -Yay for weird Convergence happenings and muscly alien friends!- 

Darcy had been determined to make it to the Avengers facility in record time. It was a facility which she, as a civilian, officially shouldn’t know about, but, you know, what good were hacker skills if you couldn’t flex those muscles once in a while. Right? And what was three thousand miles in this day and age anyway? A three day drive, if she drove fast and hard? No problem. 

_No biggie. I got this._

Famous last words.

That had been two-and-a-half weeks ago. 

Or was it three weeks? 

She’d stopped counting the days after the first week; no longer concerned with how fast she’d get to her goal, and more concerned with staying alive long enough to _reach_ her goal. 

People had become really dangerous, certified assholes after the end of the world, and traveling alone in a post-apocalyptic world, especially as a woman, brought with it all sorts of challenges and risks. It had slowed her pace substantially.

Darcy blinked slowly at the shadow behind the gate. Her mind had taken her back to all that had happened in the past weeks, and it made her miss most of the questions asked. She swayed, and shivered in the biting cold air; blinking again to try and restore her focus.

‘Sorry, what was that?’

‘State your name and purpose.’ A flint of sharp steel cut through the deceptively warm tone of the woman’s voice.

‘Oh, um, Darcy Lewis? I’m... Jane Foster’s assistant?’ An almost physical pain sliced through her gut at the mention of Jane, and she had to fight her tears. Her self-restraint was at its end it seemed. She was close to losing the battle of pushing away her feelings of grief and just concentrating on survival as she had done in the past weeks.

‘Are you telling me, or asking me?’ Came the now amused sounding female voice from the other side of the gate.

‘I know Thor. He’s my friend.’ Darcy blurted out, suddenly desperate to be allowed into the compound. She didn’t even want answers anymore. She just wanted to be safe. 

‘Is he now?’ A note of doubt coloured the voice.

‘Yes, he is.’ She hated how her voice shook when she answered.

‘Convince me.’

‘What?’

‘Convince me.’

‘Um, I was there when he first arrived in New Mexico.’

‘Everyone knows where and when Thor crashed to Earth by now. Do better.’

‘I was in the van with Jane and Erik when we hit him. The van was white.’

‘You could have read that online.’

‘Jesus! I’m telling you, I really am Darcy Lewis! Just let me in!’ The words burst from her violently. Then she realised that she wasn’t making her situation any better, and followed it up with a, ‘Please?’

‘Do better.’

‘Motherfff... Fine. I was there when the Destroyer, which had been sent by Thor’s _psycho_ brother, Loki, blew up half of Puente Antiguo. The Warriors Three were there, and Lady Sif. Shieldra stole my freaking iPod! Which I still haven’t gotten back, by the way. I’d just downloaded, like, thirty new songs onto it. It’s been years, but it still sucks, you know. Those jack-booted Shieldra thugs stole all our equipment.’ A soft, disbelieving hum came from the woman. 

_Right... Do better._

‘I was in London during the Convergence. Jane was possessed by the Aether, which is some freaking scary wiggly red substance that went boom when that police guy tried to arrest her. Jane told me that Odin called her a goat!’ The doubtful silence behind the gate made her even more desperate to convince whomever was behind it. 

_Do better._

‘I tasered Thor when he just arrived, seven years ago. I knocked him flat on his ass, because he freaked me out, and he has called me his Lightning Sister ever since!’

‘Are you armed?’ 

The question followed her desperate explanation so quickly that she had trouble keeping up with the sudden change in approach.

‘What?’ Her tired mind made every thought feel like it had to trudge through mud before it connected in her brain.

‘Are you armed?’

‘No, I have no fire-arms on me.’ She answered truthfully.

‘That is _not_ what I asked.’

‘I know. But I’m not disarming until I know who I’m talking to. The way I see it, I’m the vulnerable one, and you’re the one with the arsenal of a nuclear power at your back.’ Darcy gestured at the heavily fortified compound with the hatchet she held in her right hand.

A soft, amused chuckle came from the darkness.

‘Fair enough.’

A flood-light turned on above her, and blinded her instantly. Turning away from the painful invasion of her visual senses, Darcy shielded her eyes with her left hand, while defensively raising her hatchet with her right. She never left her car without it anymore. Another lesson painfully learnt.

Blinking against the black spots that danced across her vision, her surroundings slowly became once more visible. By the time Darcy could see clearly again, the other woman had stepped through the gap in the gate, which had widened by about another foot.

‘ _Oh_.’ 

In front of her stood the Black Widow. 

She lowered the hatchet and stared.

It wasn’t every day that one came face to face with a Legend. Not counting Thor, of course. But that was different. He was more like a big, older brother to her these days. Sweet, well-meaning, and sometimes annoying. Too bad she’d seen less of him after Jane broke up with him. He’d been off-world a lot.

The Legend frowned at her; green eyes sharply taking in her appearance.

‘Are you hurt?’

‘Um... Nothing broken, I think. Bruised. Sprained. Formerly dislocated. Yes to all three. A few abrasions, too.’ She held up her hands to show where the skin had been scraped off.

Gesturing at Darcy, the Black Widow raised her eyebrows.

Darcy looked down, and saw how the front of her formerly green outfit was soaked in a crusty, rusty brown colour -she had exchanged the colourful, summery outfit she’d worn at Stanford for survival clothing as soon as she’d had the chance. After the attack on her car and her person she’d walked -hobbled- a couple of miles before she’d happened upon a sporting goods store. Most of its contents had already been plundered, but in the clothing area the extra small sizes had been left hanging on the racks, which suited her very well; almost as well as the size six sturdy hiking boots she’d found in the shoe area-. 

Thanks to an altercation only two days earlier, she’d gained one more experience she’d rather never think of again. Or repeat, for that matter. It had been rather bloody. And nauseating.

Licking her chapped lips nervously, her blue gaze shot up to the sharp green one of the Widow.

‘That’s not mine...’ She cleared her throat. ‘Well, it’s mostly not mine.’ Swallowing, she fought down the bile that threatened to come up into her mouth. ‘I made a mistake trusting the wrong people. And... um...’ She shrugged helplessly, fighting back another batch of tears. Gulping in a deep breath, she clumsily changed the subject. ‘It’s been a long few... How long _has_ it been? Since everyone disappeared?’

‘Twenty-six days.

‘I’ve been on the road for _twenty-six days_?!’ Almost four weeks? It couldn’t have been that long, could it?

‘You’ve been on the road for twenty-six days?’ The Widow echoed her question. ‘How far-’

‘Stanford... I came from Stanford University. Jane and I were there for a series of astrophysics lectures, and I took advantage of their library, doing some research for my thesis.’

‘You drove here... All the way... from _San Francisco_?’

‘Yes.’

‘Through-’

‘Yes. I drove three thousand miles through a country which apparently has reverted back to the seventeen hundreds, only with cars, and preppers, and semi-automatic rifles, and militant religious extremists who want to repopulate the world -fuck all what ‘dem wimmin’ want-. Not to mention the people who are desperately trying to protect their homesteads against said nutcases and shoot to kill before even thinking of asking questions.’ Darcy shivered, and pushed away the memories. _Not the time to collapse_.

‘You traveled all alone?’ For the first time, Darcy heard something akin sympathy in the Widow’s voice, and maybe even a smidgeon of respect. ‘And Doctor Foster?’

‘She disappeared. There were only ashes left.’ A sob involuntarily escaped her. ‘She’s gone.’

The Widow nodded in solemn acknowledgement.

‘I’m sorry. It’s a big loss.’ Then she turned around and stepped back through the gate, gesturing to Darcy. ‘Follow me.’

Darcy hurried to squeeze through the already closing gate, running the last few steps to catch up to the Widow.

‘You’re not making me give up my weapons?’

‘No.’

‘Why not?’

‘You only have knives and a taser on your person, and I’m faster than you. You’re not a threat.’ 

‘Why not?’

‘You’d be dead if you were.’

‘Oh.’

Silence reigned as they walked along a dark, asphalt path which was flanked by vast, grassy lawns. Behind them, the flood-light had been extinguished and the gate had slid closed again. Darcy heard the locking mechanisms slide in place. _No way back now._

‘Were you attacked?’ The question came out of the blue.

‘Several times. Less frequently the longer I was on the road, though. I became more vigilant. Especially around towns and hamlets. Avoided the cities altogether. Only drove by daylight, and took care to be out of sight by the time darkness fell.’

‘And you escaped when you were attacked.’

‘Yes.’

‘Good.’

‘Yes.’

‘Were you raped?’

Darcy sucked in a breath at the coolly stated question. The Widow made it sound like she was discussing the weather, instead of something so vile as rape. It did make it easier for Darcy to answer the question, though. It kept her detached.

‘No.’ She shivered. ‘Not for lack of trying by the other party, though.’ Looking down at the dark stains on her dark clothes. ‘I think... I think I killed him... them... both of them...’

‘Good.’

‘What?’ 

‘You did what you had to do to protect yourself. You fought and you won. That’s good.’

‘But... They’re... _dead_...’ She breathed.

‘You must not mourn for rapists and murderers, miss Lewis _._ It was you, or them. Better them, than you.’ 

‘But, I’m the... the _murderer_.’ A black, tar-like heaviness settled in the pit of her stomach at those words.

‘No. You’re the _survivor_. You did good.’ The Widow’s steely tone was laced with approval. She almost sounded pleased. ‘Don’t linger on their miserable lives. They wouldn’t have thought twice about killing you after they were done with you. Who knows how many women and girls they would have caught in their terrible claws if you hadn’t ended them? You saved countless lives by ending theirs.’

Taking in a deep breath at hearing the Widow’s reasoning she wondered if the woman wasn’t right. She loathed to think of how many more victims her attackers would have made if she hadn’t fought back and... A shiver of horror travelled down her spine.

‘You really think so?’ 

‘There’s no doubt in my mind.’

Somehow, this made her breathe a little easier. The burden weighing less on her mind and her heart now that she’d shared it with someone who had done worse than she had, and who hadn’t judged her for going as far as she had in defending herself.

‘No-one here at the compound will think less of you for it. We’re all survivors who have killed to ensure our own survival, and that of others who were in our care, and even of others who weren’t, but who deserved to live more than the ones whom we killed. It’s a grey area. It has always been that way, and it will always be that way. You learn to live with it.’ The Widow shrugged vaguely. ‘You either learn to cope, and endure, or you die.’ 

‘Isn’t that overly simplified?’ Darcy frowned at the matter-of-fact way with which such a loaded statement had been made by the woman walking next to her.

‘But it _is_ simple. Either you _live_ , _or_ you die. And death in this instance is not always the end of living, of breathing, but on the inside, you are gone, empty. I was once that way, but someone brought me back. It’s not easy, but sometimes you _can_ come back. And then you live again, _with_ all the things you did in your past, good and bad. Until you die, permanently.’

The Widow held open a heavy-looking metal door, and gestured for Darcy to step through. Darcy decided that she was too tired to engage the woman in a philosophical discussion about ethics and the complexities of the human psyche, and instead looked around the grey, low ceilinged, long hallway they walked into. It felt like stepping into a concrete bunker. She wrinkled her nose at the claustrophobic vibe she got from it.

‘We’ve moved the command centre and the lodgings of the on-site Avengers, and staff, into the underground facility. And we sent any non-essential personnel home to be with their families...Which was almost all of them, now that I think of it. We thought it safer that way. It’s why it took me so long to get to the front gate. The elevator ride takes a couple of minutes.’ Apparently, Darcy’s unease had been clearly visible on her face, because the other woman smiled comfortingly. ‘Don’t worry, It’s not at all like this corridor. Stark has spared no expense to make the underground facility just as well-equipped and liveable as the above ground one. The man is ridiculous sometimes.’ Then she winked. 

The Black Widow. Had actually _winked_... at her, Darcy... In a friendly way. At least, she hoped it had been in a friendly way, and not in a _I’m luring you into your underground, concrete grave_ way. She had thought the past weeks to have been surreal, but this moment surpassed it... By, like, a hundred miles. _What the fudge?!_

‘The elevator takes a couple of minutes?’ Darcy decided to blissfully ignore the questionable wink, and ask the important questions. ‘How far down are we going?’

‘Let’s just say that this same exact spot could be hit in successive order by five of the strongest nuclear bombs available at this time, and down below we wouldn’t even feel a light tremor after the fifth hit. Stark really went overboard with this project.’

At the end of the corridor, there were a pair of unassuming elevator doors, which opened up the moment the Widow approached. Behind the doors was a huge elevator that could easily hold two large SUVs. Stepping into the elevator behind the Widow, Darcy saw how the other side of the elevator held an enormous folding door that spanned the whole width of the space.

‘That’s the supply hatch.’ The Widow explained after seeing Darcy’s curious looks towards the huge door. ‘A small door wouldn’t do if you have to get large batches of supplies down to the bunker. Behind it is the warehouse of the facility.’

‘Ah.’

Darcy leaned against one of the walls of the elevator as they plummeted down at a breakneck speed. Her stomach felt like it was up in her throat. After a couple of minutes of descending terrifyingly fast, they started to slow down until the elevator came to a dead stop. Righting herself, because she thought they’d be exiting soon, Darcy lightly stumbled when the elevator started to move again.

‘Wait... Are we moving sideways?’ She asked, simultaneously surprised and excited. _So cool! Like in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory!_

The Widow only smiled a knowing smile, not even making the effort to look at Darcy.

‘Does that mean we’re leaving the Avengers site altogether? That wasn’t in the official plans! Neither was the presence of a bunker by the way. I never saw-’ O _h... Oops..._ She must have been even more tired than she’d thought, letting that tidbit of information slip so easily. Fatigue and enthusiasm did _not_ go together. _Shit._

Raising her head from where she’d been studying the tips of her booted toes, the Widow shot her a sharp look.

‘And _where_ is it that you _saw_ those official plans, miss Lewis? Because to my knowledge they are top-secret and non-accessible to anyone below a level six clearance level.’

‘Oh... Um...’ Darcy quickly looked away from the piercing green gaze. _Shitshitshit._

‘Well?’

Swallowing laboriously, she decided that coming clean about her clandestine endeavours would be best. Especially when one found oneself alone in a small boxed-in area with someone like the Black Widow.

‘I got skills.’ _Yeah, no, that’s gonna help your case._

‘You... got skills...’ The deadpan voice made her look up. The Widow did not look amused. _Shit._

‘I might have a talent for getting into well-hidden, Fort Knox-like security protected digital places where I’m not supposed to be... and stay undetected?’ Darcy swallowed; her mouth going dry all of a sudden. 

‘You’re a hacker.’ The statement was flat.

‘Ummm... I guess.’

‘I thought you were a poli-sci masters graduate?’

‘Yeah, that too. But now I’m doing my bachelor in computer sciences.’

‘Hm… Something tells me that you did not pick up your ‘skills’ while studying computer sciences.’

_Fuck. Busted!_

‘That... would be correct... Um... It started when Shieldra stole our equipment. They stole my iPod. And I was so pissed off. So... I might have gone off the deep end a bit... And I tried to hack them?’

‘You... tried to hack Shield.’ The Widow frowned and narrowed her eyes at Darcy, and Darcy stopped breathing for a couple of seconds. Then the other woman looked away and Darcy let out a soft breath in relief. She was still alive. _Yay!_ ‘Go on.’

‘Sooooo, I just winged it... I never thought I would get in, you know... It was an accident... I think. But, somehow, coding languages and me... we understood each-other? It was like finding a shitload of long lost friends I didn’t know I had… After that, it was like taking candy from a baby.’

‘You got in.’

‘Yeah... I got in. And I wasn’t detected. I think it was sheer dumb luck that first time.’

‘That... _first_ time?’ 

_Oops..._

‘Uh... yeah?’

‘You hacked Shield more than once?’

Darcy swallowed. Again.

‘Yes?’ She didn’t dare to look at the Widow.

‘How many times?’

‘Uh... I don’t remember?’

‘You don’t remember.’

‘No?... I mean... After seven years of hacking... I sorta lost count?’ She grimaced at how bad that sounded.

‘And you somehow managed to fly under the radar every. single. time?’

‘I guess?’

‘Did you ever do any damage?’

‘Apart from the first time? No. All the other times was just to keep an eye on Thor. And to keep in the know on how high, or low, Jane was on Shieldra’s, um, acquisitions list. In case we needed to get away fast.’

‘That first time, what did you do?’

‘I might or might not have reset everyone’s screensaver to a photoshopped, half-naked agent Coulson pole-dancing, and I may or may not have made sure that if someone tried to remove it, it would just jump to another driver, or to another part of the computer’s memory. Like a little flea. Wrote the coding myself. It was a naughty little thing.’ Darcy snickered at the memory.

‘That was _you_?’ The Widow sounded almost breathless then. ‘It took the IT department _three months_ to wipe out every last trace of your little _flea_. I’ve never seen Fury that irate, or Coulson that flustered. They never found out who did it. You were a notorious legend within the IT department. They called you _the Devil_. Your virus jumped around so much it drove them to insanity. Every time they thought they had it, somehow they missed one small thing, and then it spread through the whole network again.’ A big, appreciative smile took over the other woman’s stern features. ‘I’m impressed.’ 

She stuck out her hand, and Darcy gazed at it suspiciously for a couple of seconds before deciding to take it, and shake it. ‘It’s fantastic to finally meet the person who almost got Shield to its knees through the misleadingly innocent action of installing an organisation wide screensaver.’ The Widow grinned and enthusiastically shook her hand. ‘Natasha Romanoff.’

‘Darcy Lewis. Um... Thanks... I think...’

The elevator doors chose that exact moment to open up, and Darcy realised that they’d stopped moving. Curiously, she let go of the Widow’s -Natasha’s- hand, and stepped out of the elevator and into a large, high-ceilinged lobby-like area. The modern chandeliers that hung down from the ceiling, brightly lit the whole space. The white walls, ceiling, and concrete floor gave the space a light, airy and modern, but also quite frigid ambiance. Apart from a large, white leather couch that had been pushed up against one of the walls, the room held no furniture. Darcy found it a bit sparse and unwelcoming. She sincerely hoped the rest of the bunker hadn’t been furnished the same way. Because if it was, then this was _so_ not a place she’d want to live.

‘Don’t worry about the lack of furniture, or colour, this is just the personnel entrance. It serves its purpose. Other than walking through it when picking up people like you at the gate, we don’t come here.’ Natasha could read her mind. There was no other explanation.

She followed the woman through a maze of corridors, which looked similar to the entrance lobby, all decked out in white, with sometimes the addition of glass and steel doors. They ended up in a large-ish space that looked like it had been designed to be the security hub of the whole complex, both outside and underground. One wall consisted entirely of a huge monitor-like screen that had been digitally partitioned to show dozens of different camera-views from around the compound. In the middle of the room there stood a long, glass table flanked by a dozen comfy looking leather chairs. Another wall was made from glass and looked out onto what could only be described as a huge, state of the art research lab slash mechanics grease pit slash any scientist’s wet drea… _Is that a popcorn machine?!_

‘Please, take a seat.’ Natasha gestured towards the chairs. 

Darcy flopped down into one, laying the hatchet onto the table with a resounding ‘clank’, and spun the chair around towards the huge monitor as she pulled her knitted beanie off of her head. The temperature inside was too high for her to still be wearing her winter gear. Sweat started to trickle down her back and between her breasts. Dumping the beanie next to the hatchet onto the glass table, she zipped open her coat and shrugged it off, revealing a thick, green sweater, which was also discoloured by blood. She let the coat fall to the floor when she stood again and with a grunt pulled the sweater off over her head. Her previously dislocated arm still gave her trouble when she had to lift it above her head. 

Underneath the sweater she wore a tight, white vest top over a black bra. Thankfully, the vest top had survived with only a smattering of small, rust coloured drops. Now that she was taking off annoying stuff anyway, she could just as well get rid of the belt around her hips that held up a holster containing a large stun gun on her right hip, and a holstered machete on her left. Which she did. Clonking the belt with both weapons down onto the table, she grabbed the large, holstered Rambo knife that she had tucked into the back of her pants, adding it to the pile. She grabbed her coat and dug up a couple of sheathed smaller knives from its various pockets. Then she emptied out several pockets of her tactical pants, which held another couple of knives, and her old, trusty ‘Sparky’; the taser she’d used to take down Thor all those years ago.

‘Is that all?’ Came the amused voice of the Widow.

Darcy looked up and saw how Natasha took in the arsenal of blades on the table with an appreciative look. She shrugged.

‘Just about.’ Bending over, she untied her high-top boots and took them off. Then she pulled up her pant-legs and fished three more sheathed knives out of her knee-high woollen socks; depositing them onto the table before taking the socks off, and wiggling her toes. It was a relief to be out of the boots after such a long time. She’d been afraid to take them off at night, so she’d only untied them to allow the blood to flow as she slept. 

‘Wait here, I’m going to get the others.’ Natasha gave her a pointed look. ‘Try not to hack into Stark’s mainframe while I’m gone, please.’

Darcy raised her eyebrows and managed to look insulted as she dropped her ass back into the chair.

‘I wouldn’t _dare_.’ She said. ‘Besides, Friday and I are sworn bros for life, aren’t we, F?’

‘ _Yes, Darcy._ ’ Came Tony Stark’s AI’s indulgent voice from the ceiling.

Natasha stared at her for a long time, expression neutral.

‘Does Stark know?’ She then asked.

‘Nope.’

She raised an inquiring eyebrow at Darcy, encouraging her to keep talking

‘I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.’ Darcy joked with a grin. ‘All I can say is, me and coding? We BFFs now.’

‘Never mind. I’ll be right back. Don’t touch anything.’ With a sigh, the Black Widow stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy finds herself in a bunker with a lot of interesting people.
> 
>  
> 
> Warning: completely incorrect science babble 😂

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooooh, Chapter twoooooooo!!!
> 
> This is all I've got written for now, so updates will slow down a bit after this one.
> 
> Happy reading! :D

**Chapter 2**

 

April 2018, super secret Avengers bunker, middle of nowhere, upstate New York.

 

By the time the steel door swung open again, fifteen minutes later, Darcy had shoved her weapons from the table onto one of the chairs, and she was standing bare-footed on the glass table, which had turned out to be a super large tablet computer. Several holographic screens and graphs surrounded her as she typed away on a futuristic looking keyboard with her right hand while holding it with the left, sporadically touching and enlarging certain parts of the holographic screens. Underneath her feet, an enormous amount of coding ran across the screen of the tablet table, the language unreadable because of its high scrolling speed.

‘Okay, F. Now use those newly found patterns with that piece of reprogrammed code. And integrate NASA’s newest equations for those strange super nova thingies. Cross reference those with the Einstein-Rosen-squiggle readings from Jane’s research, and include the ones we recorded four weeks ago. Oh, and adjust for radiation distortion in the calculations by using the calibrations the military got from those pieces of the alien space ship engines they found in bumfuck-nowhere in the nineties.’

‘ _Yes, Darcy._ ’

Someone behind her loudly cleared their throat, and she almost dropped the keyboard when she quickly turned around, stumbling to keep her balance. 

In front of a group of people, most of whom were dressed in t-shirts and sweatpants, Natasha stood with her arms crossed, frowning up at her. 

‘It’s _not_ what it looks like!’ Darcy said quickly. Natasha looked pointedly at the keyboard in her hand. Darcy frowned. She was so busted. ‘Okay, maybe it _is_ what it looks like, I did touch some stuff… But I didn’t hack Stark’s mainframe after you left, I _swear_!’ She argued, holding her hands up in front of her in a placating gesture, keyboard still held in her left hand, while the holograms that surrounded her spun slowly to adjust for her sudden turn.

‘ _Darcy, I have already found five anomalies that fall within the parameters you set._ ’

‘Okay, thanks F! Please analyse them further and filter out anything that jumps out as white noise, categorise the weird stuff, and then save it all to my cloud. And keep an eye open for more splashing fishies, and fudged up watchamasquiggles.’ She addressed the AI with a bright smile and looked up to the camera that monitored the room.

‘ _Yes, Darcy._ ’

Behind Natasha, a man with glasses and dark, slightly greying hair _-Hey, I know him... Jane’s got a book with him on the cover... Scientist, of course... Bruce... Banning? Banner?-_ leaned towards a thin, graceful-looking, strawberry-blond woman _-Whoah! Pepper Potts!!! So flippin’ cool!-_.

‘Did Tony ever conceive any kids?’ He asked in a quiet, melodious voice as he looked up at Darcy curiously.

‘None, as far as I know.’ The woman _-Oh my god! I can’t believe it’s Pepper Potts!-_ answered as she narrowed her blue eyes at Darcy, taking in her dark hair, her choice of clothing, and her amicability with the AI. ‘But maybe we should administer a DNA test?’

_Oookay... That’s not nice...._

‘Hey! Rude!’ Darcy protested, calling them out and pointing at them. ‘I know who my parents were, thank-you-very-much.’

‘Were?’ A man with very broad shoulders, longish dark blond hair and a brunette beard stepped forward as he asked the question. _Wait... he looks familiar, too..._

‘Yeah, they died when I was little. Spent my teens in foster care.’ She shrugged and wrinkled her nose at him. _So familiar_. _Where do I know him from?_

‘I’m sorry.’ The man apologised.

‘No prob, dude. It was a long time ago-holy-shit-you’reCaptainAmerica!’ 

‘DARCY! Focus!’ Natasha said loudly before gesturing towards the open screens and graphs. ‘What are you doing?!’

Quickly, Darcy closed the holographs and walked to the edge of the table, sitting down and letting her legs swing back and forth. She gingerly put the keyboard into its designated slot in the table. Then she looked up at the woman in front of her.

‘So... Me and F got talking after you left, and she told me that mr Stark and a couple of other associates of yours went missing in space. We did the math, and if it’s really true that half of life in the universe has been eradicated, then there’s a fifty-seven point three two five percent chance that at least one of the missing people survived, so we set up an algorithm. Which didn’t work, of course, because you have to take in account certain non-sensical farts that space just throws back at you when you poke at it, and then there’s the radiation and stuff, and then we hacked into NASA and found these weird super nova explosion thingies that shouldn’t really be where they are. So we had to give those a place in the calculations-’

‘Darcy!’

‘We made an algorithm which looks for anomalies in space.’ Darcy blurted out. ‘If mr Stark is alive, then we have to assume he’s trying to get back to Earth, and maybe even trying to make contact. He knows he has to make a very big splash to be seen, or heard. I mean, have you _seen_ space? It’s, like, _huge_. So, assuming that he’s alive, _and_ making as much noise as he possibly can, we decided to connect all known Stark satellites, even the ones traveling through deep space, to make one big transmitter, slash, receiver. And we’re bouncing several signals off of ISS, too, and using Hubble as a visual aid. Then we sent out a web of criss-crossing and interconnected ultraviolet-like waves which, if my coding has been done right, should multiply when they are sent further out into space and speed up, while keeping the net as tight and strong as it was when it was first cast, allowing it to grow bigger and cover more space. Now, when the net finds a strange splashy flashy thing in space, it should reflect the anomaly back to us through the net’s interconnected pathways, and then we _should_ be able to triangulate its position in time and space relative to _our_ position in time and space. And then we could-’

‘Darcy!’

‘We just found five of those anomalies. Now, I’m not saying it’s mr Stark, because the net has only been cast for, like, three minutes or so, but we should look into it anyways. You never know.’ Shrugging vaguely, Darcy let her legs swing harder while looking up expectantly at the group of people that surrounded her. Their expressions varied from confused, to amused, to contemplative. 

Natasha’s expression was one of exasperation.

‘I was gone for _fifteen_ ** _minutes_**.’

Darcy grimaced apologetically.

‘Sorry?’ She wiggled her fingers at the woman. ‘I got skills?’

‘I guess I have to be grateful that you didn’t just decide to conquer the entire known galaxy during that time.’ The Widow deadpanned.

Before Natasha could say anything else, a booming voice was heard coming from the corridor.

‘I cannot wait for you to meet her, friend Rabbit. Lady Darcy is truly magnificent. Almost as luminous and intelligent as Lady Jane.’

‘ _Thor?_ Thor is _here_?’ Darcy croaked. She turned to Natasha; eyes wide from shock. ‘You didn’t tell him?’ 

The woman shook her head; her expression solemn.

‘There wasn’t time. And it’s not my place to tell him.’

_Oh.. no..._ Darcy’s eyes filled with tears, the pain of losing Jane returning to the forefront of her being after she’d so successfully pushed it away by hyper focusing on finding a way to find Tony Stark in the vastness of outer space.

She couldn’t tell Thor... She couldn-

‘Darcy Lewis! My Lightning Sister! It is great to see you!’ Thor stepped into the room and with two strides he was in front of her, beaming; the other people in the room stepping aside to let him through. ‘Where is my-... Where is Lady Jane? Is she still outside? Looking at the stars, as she always does?’

All Darcy could do was shake her head as tears started to roll down her cheeks.

‘No... Thor... I... I’m s-sorry. I couldn’t... She just...’

‘No...’ The soft whisper couldn’t have been more loud to her soul.

Seeing the hopeful light in her friend’s eyes die was more than she could bear. The immense grief that took its place broke the tight grip she had on her own emotions, and she stood back up on the table, wrapping her arms around him at the same time as his went around her. She hid her face against his shoulder as she cried.

‘I’m sorry!... I tried... I held her... I tried to keep her with me... I tried so hard... but I couldn’t... And then... she slipped through my fingers... She was... just gone! I’m so... so sorry.’

‘ _No_.’ 

The room started to shake around them, and Darcy could feel how prickly electricity danced over her skin and made her hair stand up as Thor’s arms tightened around her. She groaned softly when her bruised ribs protested their rough treatment. _Ouch..._

‘Thor. You need to calm down.’ Came Steve Rogers’ quiet but authoritative voice.

‘ _NO_.’

‘We _will_ find a way to make this right. I _promise_ you, we _will_. I understand that you’re feeling like lashing out in your grief and your pain, believe me, I understand, but I also know that blowing up the bunker around us, and killing everyone in it, is not what you want.’

‘ ** _NO!_** ’

The vibrations around them increased exponentially, and the electric charge that ran across Darcy’s skin started to crackle.

The deep suffering in Thor’s voice broke Darcy’s heart even more than it already had been, but she knew that if he wasn’t stopped, only the super-humans in the bunker stood a chance to survive the fallout of his grief. And she wasn’t one of them. 

Somehow, she had to find a way to pull him out of that pit of despair; ‘cause Steve Rogers’ approach wasn’t working.

Drying her tears by pushing her glasses up and rubbing her eyes on his t-shirt clad shoulder, Darcy hiccupped, and pulled away from him; glasses sliding back in place. She leaned back as far as she could with him holding her in a death grip. Taken aback, she looked into his white, glowing eyes. _Holy shit, that’s new!_ The fact that the air around them felt more hyper charged by the second did not warrant anything good, she was sure of it. _Shit._

‘Hey, Thor? Um... It’s me... Darcy... You’re really starting to freak me out right now.’ Taking his face between her hands, she forced him to look straight at her, even though she wasn’t sure if he could see her with his glowing eyes. She saw how blueish-white electric charges danced over her fingers and hands and then traveled up her arms. _oh, double shit._ ‘Those eyes are seriously creepy, dude! And I don’t think I could survive one of your lightning strikes, so, if you could please calm down a bit, so you don’t blow me to pieces, I’d appreciate it very much... Oh god… Please don’t fry me to a crisp... I’m too young to... Oh, to hell with it!’ 

She pulled back her arm and slapped him on the cheek as hard as she could. Part of the electric charge that ran through her, discharged right against Thor’s face. Pain shot through her hand and up her arm from the shock she’d just administered, and tears came to her eyes as she shook her hand up and down to relieve the sudden, intense stinging sensation.

‘Ow ow ow ow. Shit! That hurts!’ 

Thor sucked in a breath at the taser-like discharge against his skin, and he blinked, his eyes returning to normal. He genuinely looked at her this time, and she could almost taste how the electrically charged air around them slowly dissipated as her hair stopped reaching for the ceiling

‘Dude! I think you broke my hand with your jaw!’ Darcy said accusingly, holding up her aching hand for him to see. 

‘I am truly sorry.’ The deep sadness in his voice and in his eyes was something she had never heard or seen before where he was concerned. Thor had always been such a boisterous and happy person, even when life didn’t go his way. Now, though, he seemed diminished. It tore at her already bruised and broken heart.

‘Yeah, me too.’ she sighed, and wiped at her watering eyes with her still smarting hand. 

‘I have lost everyone, Lady Darcy. First my mother to the dark elves, then my father to old age and heartbreak, then my brother to Thanos, and now my Jane… They are all gone, my family. I am all that is left. Asgard has been destroyed, half my people were slaughtered, and what was left of them, has been scattered across the universe after our refugee ship exploded. I don’t even know if anyone else made it out alive.’ He heaved a deep, forlorn sigh before locking his gaze with hers, his mismatched eyes _-When did that happen?!-_ almost overflowing with unshed tears. ‘I am truly alone.’

Once again cradling his face in her hands, Darcy shook her head and her sympathetic expression hardened to a determined one.

‘Hey... No. You’re wrong, Thor. You didn’t lose _everyone_. Just like I didn’t. I’m still here, and you’re _my_ family. And I don’t care that you’ll outlive me by, like, ten thousand millennia, or however stupidly old you guys get, because you’ll forever be my brother.’

The corners of Thor’s mouth pulled up minutely, and his eyes softened when he looked at her as if it was the first time he really saw her. He humbly inclined his head in acknowledgement of her declaration.

‘I would be honoured to call you my family, Lady Darcy Lewis of Midgard; for you to be my sister in everything but blood… Let it be known that from this day forth you will be the adopted sister to the Royal line of Asgard, under the sacred protection of the Asgardian King, for he has claimed you as kin, as you have claimed him. You shall want for nothing, for as long as you shall live. This is my oath to you.’ He held his hand out to her, and she made a move to shake it, but instead of taking her hand, he cradled her slender forearm between his fingers, pressing his large palm to her fragile wrist, and she automatically grabbed onto the inside of his forearm, her fingers only making it halfway around.

Suddenly, his palm heated against her skin, causing her to gasp when it became uncomfortable. Just before it started to hurt, a soothing, cooling sensation replaced the heat.

When Thor let go of her arm, she pulled her hand back, frowning at him in confusion before looking down at her wrist.

_What the hell?!_ On the inside of her wrist, just underneath the translucent, delicate skin, there lay the shimmering depiction of a pale-golden tree. She estimated it to be just under two inches in diameter; its branches forming a full, closed circle with its roots, woven together with intricate nordic knots. It looked a lot like an ancient, medieval seal. Looking closer, her eye fell on the two small ravens who were nestled between the tiny leaves that sprouted from the knotted branches, and where the branches met the tree trunk, a rendition of Thor’s hammer had been engraved into the bark; stylised lightning spreading out from the hammer head along the trunk of the tree. _Hey! That’s Mew Mew!_

Darcy looked up at Thor with a frown on her face. ‘It’s not that I don’t think this tattoo thingy is cool or anything, but... um... _Why_ is it on my wrist?’ She wasn’t exactly sure if she shouldn’t be insulted and angry that he had marked her like some troglodyte caveman. _He better have a good explanation, or I’m gonna taser his ass. Again._

‘The Yggdrasil, which is the tree of life that connects all the different realms, and the ravens are the symbols of the Royal House of Asgard, and Mjölnir is my personal symbol. The emblem on your wrist shows to the inhabitants of the nine realms that you are a member of the Royal line of Asgard, of _my family_ , and it signifies that you are to be shown the respect and protection that comes with your position. Look, I have the same seal on my wrist. Only I don’t have Mjölnir engraved in the tree, but my father’s personal symbol. My mother and my brother had the same emblem on _their_ wrists. My father had _his_ father’s emblem on his wrist, and so on. The only things that never change, are the Yggdrasil and the ravens.’

_Hmmm... Maybe not so bad then..._

‘Soooo... Let me get this straight... If I ever get into trouble, say in this, or even in another world... um... _realm_ , all I have to do is show people my wrist, and claim that you’re my brother, and they’re unable to touch me? Obliged to help me, even?’

‘If they are aligned with Asgard, and they want to keep enjoying my protection, then, yes.’

Darcy cheekily grinned down at the emblem on her wrist.

‘Heh, political immunity. So cool.’

‘It is _not_ a free pass to bad behaviour.’ Thor’s voice became solemn and stern after her gleeful remark. ‘With your position as Sister to the King also comes responsibility. Any ill conduct from your side will reflect negatively on my name, which, in turn, has the potential to weaken my position as Protector of the Realms.’

‘Oh, of course. Without question. I understand. I _did_ attain my Political Science Master with honours you know. I’m well versed in the theoretical and practical intricacies of diplomacy and rule. I was laughing because I’d never thought _I_ would be someone who would gain the privilege of political immunity.’ Throwing Thor a placating smile, she held up her wrist to him. ‘And what is this pink-golden thingy in the pale-golden circle at the base of the tree trunk?’ Thor’s confused frown made her point it out. ‘Here, look, where the roots begin.’

‘What do you mean?’ Thor gently took her wrist between his fingers and brought it closer to his face for examination. He frowned. ‘That does not belong there. What is it?’ He poked at it with his finger. It didn’t budge. ‘Strange, it feels different from the rest of the emblem.’

‘Oookaaay, anyone else bored with all the drama?’ Came a drawling voice from behind Thor. ‘Look, we’ve all lost people. It sucks. Now can we please move on? As in, back to bed? I need my beauty sleep.’

Raising her eyebrows in surprise at the unamused voice, Darcy leaned to the side to see who it was who had spoken as if he was the king of sass. Her eyes widened when the fell upon the strange creature standing behind Thor.

_Holy Shit?!_

‘What the... Is that a talking raccoon? In an overall?’ She asked, completely flummoxed.

Releasing her hand, Thor stepped aside and made a jovial gesture towards the... animal?... person?... what?

‘Lady Darcy, allow me to introduce you to my friend in arms, Rabbit.’

‘The name’s Rocket, Sparky. How many times do I have tell-... You know what? Never mind. I’ll be in my room, catching some zees.’ With a dismissive wave of his claw... hand?... Rocket walked back out of room. On two legs instead of four.

_HO-LY SHIT!_

‘Well, that was surreal... And also fudging cool!’ Darcy said to no-one in particular. Then she turned to Thor. ‘Where’d you find _him_?’

‘ _He_ found _me_ , when I was adrift in space. He saved my life. I owe him a great debt.’ He was silent for a bit before he blinked, his gaze sharpening, focusing on her, and, probably for the first time since arriving in the room, taking in Darcy’s dishevelled appearance, which, she surmised, he’d probably missed the first time around because of his puppy-like happiness to see her again, and then again because of his grief blow-out. The dude was that way sometimes. She remembered when they’d first met him and he had seemed so focused on one thing that he missed a whole bunch of other things. Like, how people on Earth did _not_ smash their cups onto the floor after they were done drinking coffee. 

His eyes zeroed in on the large yellowish-green bruise on her left shoulder, where her upper arm met her clavicle, and traveled over the different other cuts and bruises on her arms, torso and face. She knew the black eye she’d attained all those weeks ago had all but healed, only a slight discolouration remaining, but she had a nasty cut over the bridge of her nose, and a dark bruise on her cheek, courtesy of two murdering rapists… _Two expired murdering rapists_. 

Her dirty hands had abrasions on the palms, ragged nails -she did _not_ want to know what kinds of yuck she’d accumulated under those babies-, and a few of her knuckles were caked in dried blood where the skin had been torn. She was also pretty sure that she’d lost a substantial amount of weight due to meals being few and far in between.

‘Who did this?!’ Thor’s voice grew thunderous. He turned towards Natasha, who took a step back, hands up in front of her, palms out. _Smart lady._

‘Wasn’t me. She showed up like this.’

Turning back to Darcy, Thor gently took her upper arms in his hands. Taking care not to hurt her.

‘Who did this? What happened?’

‘Well, uh… A road-trip of about three thousand miles over a span of twenty-six days through what is now “No-mans-land USA” happened.’ She air quoted the name. ‘And a bunch of asshole people who thought that a woman travelling alone would be an easy target for robbing, punching, and assaulting… That happened, too… so… yeah.’ A grimace flitted over her face.

‘ _Oh, no._ ’ Breathed strawberry-blond Pepper Potts _-I so want her hair colour-_ ; her expression a mixture of shock and horror.

‘Someone… _forced_ … himself… on you?!’ Biting out the words through clenched teeth, Thor’s sudden fury made him seem to almost grow in size, and his rage made electricity dance between his fingertips. His nostrils flared dangerously. ‘ _Where is he?!_ ’

‘Whoah, big guy! Calm down! I’m okay! I am o-kay!’ Darcy hurried to reassure him before he inadvertently blew up the bunker around them in his righteous anger. ‘I got a bit banged up, but nothing else. And you should have seen the other guy…s… guys.’ She gestured at her crusty, previously green pants and her blood-soaked coat and sweater which she had dumped on the floor. 

Slowly, Thor calmed down, a surprised expression replacing his previous rage. He looked at the bloody clothes and then back to her.

‘You vanquished them?’

‘Uh… If you mean, did I manage to take them out and get away? Yeah, I did. I remembered that story you told us when Sif and the Warriors Three came to help you. You know, that story about when you had been wrestled to the ground in that cave by that one huge giant, and you couldn’t get away. And then your hand found a very sharp rock, and you stabbed him with it. In the stomach. Stabbing up and then slicing?’ Darcy shivered in revulsion when she remembered how soft and squelchy the man’s stomach had been when she’d stabbed him; bile threatening to come up into her mouth. Quickly, she sucked in a breath and forced herself to calm down. ‘Yeah, well, I had a knife, and I did that… Must have nicked his aorta or something, ‘cause he was dead before he could even do anything… And I was drenched in his blood… The other guy pulled me out from under him by my hair, and I stabbed him in the thigh. He let me go and fell backwards. Hit his head against a rock… There was so much blood... I think he died, too… It was an accident… I didn’t mean to… but I was so scared.’ A sob escaped her and then she was surrounded by a pair of strong, warm arms, hugging her to Thor’s large frame. He held her tightly as she cried, lifting her from the table and cradling her against his chest.

‘You did very well, my sister.’ He murmured comfortingly against the top of her head. ‘You have survived on your own for almost four weeks in a hostile environment; adapting and strategising, so you would have the greatest chance for success. You are a true warrior; as brave and smart as you are tiny. I am proud to call you my kin.’

Darcy sniffled and rubbed her eyes under her glasses, which were so ruined and dirty by now she couldn’t even see through them well enough to discern the other faces in the room. She proceeded to dry the tears on her cheeks; wiggling around in Thor’s grip when she started to feel uncomfortable. She had no problem with being comforted, but the way he was manhandling her like she was a little girl, rubbed her pride the wrong way. The Asgardian apparently picked up on her discomfort and gingerly put her on her feet, making sure she was steady before letting go of her.

She gave him a watery smile.

‘Thanks, big guy.’

Then she peered at the other people in the room. Apparently, they were all much taller than she was, because they towered over her. Even the Widow had at least three inches on her, it seemed. _Ugh._ Being five foot nothing sucked sometimes. 

She sighed, tired from the turmoil that whirled around inside her, and decided that someone needed to say something, because everyone was silently looking at her as if she was one step away from collapsing. Which she probably was. But that was beside the point. It was rude to stare. So, she said the first thing that came to her.

‘Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I could use a shower, some food, and a bed. Preferably in that order. Which one of you can point me in the right direction?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand that happened.
> 
> Leave me a note if you liked it, or feed the Muse some kudos. She thrives on it.
> 
> Until next time my lovelies!
> 
> Cheers! :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy tries to sleep, but is disturbed by happenings in the lab. Bruce Banner is lost in weird science.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my Lovelies! Here I am once again, with another chapter.
> 
> Happy Reading & Enjoy!

Chapter 3

 

Beginning of May 2018, Super-Duper-Secret-Avengers-Bunker-Day 5, upstate New York

 

 

 

* _Beep_ *

 

 

* _Beep_ *

 

* _Beep_ * * _Beep_ *

‘ _Darcy?_ ’

‘Hmmmrph?’

* _Beep-Beep_ *

‘ _Darcy?_ ’

‘MmfivemoreminutesMmkay?’

* _BeepBeep_ * * _BeepBeep_ *

‘ _Darcy, I have found a discrepancy in the readings from The Net._ ’

‘Whuh?’

* _BeepBeep_ * * _BeepBeep_ *

’ _Wake up, Darcy._ ’

‘Hmph… Jus-sen-it to Bruce, F... Hmmm... He’sonduty.’

‘ _He needs you for this, Darcy. You are the one who wrote the code._ ’

‘Ugh… Fiiiiiiiine.’ Darcy rolled out of her lovely, soft, warm bed; shoving her feet into a pair of fluffy bunny slippers before her eyes were even open. Rubbing her face with her left hand, she reached for her glasses -her mended glasses! Yay for Stark tech lens makers!- with her right. ‘I’m up… _I’m up_.’ Shuffling across the pastel pink carpet towards the door of her bedroom, she yawned. ‘I can’t _believe_ that a man as intelligent… as _brilliant_ as Bruce Banner has so much trouble deciphering the radiation squiggles and light-echoes from my Net. I mean, he’s, like, mega smart and a radiation expert.’

Shivering in her powder blue flannel PJs with unicorn-and-rainbow print, not from being cold, but from being overly tired, Darcy made her way out of her one-bedroom apartment and down the hall to the stairs that went up a storey to the level where the lab was located. She’d been asleep for all but ten minutes for fecks sake, or, at least, that’s what it felt like. It was starting to look like she got even less sleep now that she found safety in the bunker than when she’d been out on the road. _Stupid frickin’ anomalies..._

Another yawn plagued her as she trudged up the stairs and through the corridor towards the lab. The beeping she’d heard earlier returned and grew louder. _What the…?!_

As she upped her speed, she heard cursing. _Is that Bruce?_ What could have set the usually so tranquil scientist off like that?

‘What the hell is going on?’ With that exclamation on her lips, she burst through the lab doors. The chaos she encountered there completely froze her. She blinked.

Papers were strewn everywhere, while alarms went off left and right. Bruce Banner typed away frantically on a laptop, and also valiantly tried to keep up with randomly popping up alarm lights; disabling them by typing in a string of numbers and letters on a control panel. As soon as he got one of them to stop, another would start blinking.

‘What did you _do_?’ Darcy had to yell to be heard over the beeping alarms.

Bruce startled and looked up, his expression harried.

‘It doesn’t make sense! None of it makes _any_ sense!’

Then he apparently dismissed her sudden appearance in the lab, and, muttering to himself, he turned back to the laptop, frowning and shaking his head.

If she didn’t know any better, she’d think he’d gone off the deep end.

‘Um… Bruce? Maybe you should calm down a bit? I know that jolly big and green hasn’t made an appearance since he encountered… you-know-who… But let’s not test it… Okay?’

Taking Bruce by the arm, she guided him to a chair and pushed him into it. He took a deep breath and raked his fingers through his hair.

‘Now, what is going on?’ Gesturing towards all the beeping alarms and lights, she raised her eyebrows at him.

‘The Net… It... it got... caught on something.’ Bruce finally managed to say; his hands shaking from apparent stress.

‘Huh? But it’s, like, made of light, and coding, and squiggles, and... stuff.’

‘That’s what _I_ thought. It’s supposed to pass through everything it encounters and echo the readings back to us. But, as of forty minutes ago, part of it just stopped moving, and the surrounding waves of The Net folded around it for a few minutes, and then started moving outwards again. None of which should be possible. Not only because it’s _lightwaves_ , but also, where it got stuck, well, there’s _nothing_ there; no anomaly, no normal space object, _nothing_. There’s a ripple in the readings from The Net that indicates it’s still caught on whatever it got caught on. The Net is stagnant in that area and its readings are indicating that something’s there. Which is just not possible. _Because any other analysis I threw at it confirms that there is **nothing** there._’ His breathing had sped up again, and Darcy was becoming worried about the mental state of the good doctor. He’d seemed so well-balanced and down-to-earth when she first met him. Now, not so much.

He looked at her with frantic eyes.

‘And then I decided to run analytics on your Net and see if I could get around the coding. Maybe I could get the lightwaves to get... unstuck, or something... whatever… And you know what I found?!’

‘Uh… Lightwaves? And… Code?’

‘NO!’

‘No?’ _Huh?_

‘ _And_ YES!’ He pulled at his hair in evident frustration.

‘Uh…’

‘Your code… Your lightwaves… They don’t exist! AND they DO! And I can’t get my head around the _how_.’

_That’s it… I’m calling Nat… We need to contain this…_  Her hand reached for her phone in her pocket. Which wasn’t there. Because she was wearing her PJs, and her phone was on her night-stand. _Shit..._

‘Ooo-kaaayyy… How about we go to the kitchen and make you some tea. You like chai? Right?’

Bruce stood back up, grabbed her by the arms and shook her, his eyes almost manic.

‘Don’t you _understand?!_ The things you did, the code you wrote? You _shouldn’t_ have been able to do what you did if it had been normal code, not even if it had been the most advanced code known to mankind. So, I decided to dig a little deeper than just accepting that it works and move on. Turns out it’s not just normal code! It’s a more advanced and more _precise_ sort of programming than anything I’ve ever seen! When you compare it to the work that’s being done by some of the worlds most leading experts, then it would equal performing an operation with a _micro-laser scalpel_ , while those leading experts wield a bowie knife. The code you wrote is exquisit!’

‘Uh... Thank you?’

Bruce continued as if she hadn’t even said anything.

‘And there’s something underneath the code that I’ve never seen before! There’s a couple of layers of data on the surface, and then, beneath it, there’s even more layers, upon layers, upon layers of something that’s... not-data. I don’t know what to call it. It’s almost like it’s alive. An immensely powerful, hybrid light-energy-data stream. It makes absolutely NO sense! And those lightwaves you sent out? They somehow travel faster than any light I’ve ever seen! You called them ultraviolet-like, didn’t you?’ Darcy nodded as she started to panic. Biting her lip, she weighed her chances. Bruce was losing it, big-time. Was he starting to look a bit green around the gills? If he Hulked out in front of her, she’d be Darcy squish within seconds... _Not good... Nope nope nope nope nope..._

‘That’s just what they are, only ultraviolet- _LIKE_!’ Bruce continued. ‘They’re _**not**_ ultraviolet light. Those waves you created, they don’t exist... but... they DO! I am able to read the signatures, I can see the echoes The Net communicates back to us, and we’ve found all different kinds of anomalies thanks to it being cast; anomalies which we’ve been able to corroborate, so we know they’re actually _there_ , which also means that The Net _exists_ , but when I tried to locate your “ultraviolet net”, and put out an energy search to find the waves it consists of, those waves were NOT THERE! Because, apparently, THEY DON’T EXIST… But they also _DO_ exist, _simultaneously_. It’s a freaking _paradox_.’

‘Um…’ Darcy blinked at the doctor’s bewildered behaviour. _What is he saying?_

‘Don’t you _see?!_ We’re physically working with... with way, _waaaay_ out there, theoretical guesses on rule-bending, almost rule-breaking physics, astrophysics, and energy-data transfers that haven’t even been put into official wording yet! They have never been extensively researched, because these theories are in their baby-shoes, only just now being delicately put forward as far-fetched possibilities by the brightest minds in their fields, but thats it. They’re nothing more than a gleam in the eye of those people... And you... You just... just... These... These things we’re doing? They’re _completely_ outside the realm of present day Earth science, and still we’re _doing_ them. Without actually knowing _how_ we’re doing them! It’s madness!’ Pulling at his hair until it stood up in different angles, Bruce let out a shuddering breath. ‘It’s not possible.’

Darcy swallowed, and nervously licked her lips. Someone had gone completely bonkers. And it wasn’t her. Thankfully, the scientist seemed to calm down a bit after his tirade.

‘Riiiiight… How about you sit back down, and I’ll see what I can do about that infernal noise and those annoying blinky lights, okay?’

Bruce let himself fall down into the chair again, rubbing his hands over his face before watching with narrowed eyes how Darcy climbed up onto the large tablet table that was a copy of the one standing in the security hub that looked out over the lab.

The table was nice and warm and she kicked off her bunny slippers; setting her bare feet onto the glass as she sat down. Then she took the keyboard out of its designated slot and started to type in a couple of commands. Around her, there appeared several holographic screens showing her the readings that indicated the snag in The Net.

She’d been typing away for a couple of minutes until slowly, but surely, the cacophony of noise and flashing lights lessened, when Bruce conversationally remarked, ‘What does it feel like?’

‘Huh?’ She distractedly looked up at the scientist who was still seated. He seemed to be observing her. ‘What was that?’

‘I said, what does it feel like?’

‘ _Dude_ , if you’re gonna follow that up with, _falling from heaven_ , I’m throwing this keyboard at your head. Green rage monster be damned.’ She pointed at him with the keyboard, her blue eyes narrowing dangerously.

‘That’s not where that was going to go, Darcy.’ Bruce deadpanned.

‘Oh... What did you mean by it, then? What does what feel like?’ Confused by his cryptic question, she frowned, and went back to typing while looking at the holographic screen in front of her. Soon, she was distracted again by the mind-boggling riddle in front of her. _How the hell is it possible that a non-corporeal thing got stuck on something that’s not there?!_

‘When you come into contact with computer tech, and you write code. What does it feel like?’

_What kind of a weird question is that?... Hmmm, what if I turn this part of code that way... and then... Hmmm..._

‘Uh... I dunno... Like... I’m writing code... on a computer?’ Her fingers flew over the keys of the keyboard that she’d rested on her now stretched out legs, while she tried to answer Bruce’s strange inquiry as clearly as possible.

‘When did you discover that you had a knack for writing code? Or a talent for working with computer-like tech in general?’

Darcy took her focus away from the keyboard and screen, and raised her eyebrows at Bruce.

‘I don’t know... why?’

‘Think back... Have you been good at computer stuff all your life?’

‘Um, well... It wasn’t until I started studying at university that I came into more regular contact with computers. I grew up in foster homes and state funded shelters for kids where there never was enough money for any tech whatsoever... And when I was at university I was mostly writing papers for the different courses I took. Nothing more than working with Word, and MS Office.’ She shrugged dismissively and started typing again.

‘ _Then_ , I went on to intern with Jane, ‘cause I needed six _real science_ credits to graduate. Can you believe it? _Six_ stupid credits for a field of study that had _nothing_ to do with mine!... That’s when I got my more indepth education in data-processes and sciency stuff. And we built astrophysics machines, radiation meters, and any and all other things she needed for her research, out of kitchen appliances and stuff we found at DIY stores, and duct tape, lots of duct tape. The first things she built didn’t work all that well, but the two of us got better at building all her whizzy gadgets, and now she won’t even go with anything store-bought... Or... she wouldn’t... ‘cause... you know... she’s gone now...’ Darcy’s fingers slowed on the keyboard as she sighed sadly and stared into the distance, remembering how excited they’d been when something worked the way Jane had hoped it would. Then she shook herself, and resumed her typing. ‘Anyway, we hit Thor with the research van when we accidentally drove through what turned out to be an Einstein-Rosen-bridge. After that, Shieldra came and took all our stuff away. Even my iPod. And that pissed me off, bigtime. So, I loaned an old laptop from someone in Puente Antiguo, wrote a virus and hacked Shiedra’s servers. And the rest is history, as they say. I honed my hacking skills in the years that followed, and started my computer sciences studies while still assisting Jane with her research. I haven’t looked back since...’

Bruce only hummed quietly at her explanation.

‘So, you already had an affinity for working with tech before you met Thor? With building Jane’s science equipment?’

‘Oh, yeah, we did that well before Thor dropped into our lives.’ Focusing on the readings on the screen in front of her, Darcy nodded vaguely at Bruce. ‘Erik called us “ _the fixers”_. Jane dreamt up the strangest contraptions to build sometimes. And nine times out of ten, they worked quite well. Jane’s a real visionary when it comes to astrophysics equipment. It was fun, and an honour, to be allowed to be a part of her talent for building stuff.’

Another hum came from Bruce, and a very quiet mumble that sounded a bit like, _‘Don’thinkitwasher’_ , but she couldn’t be sure she heard it right, because of the beeping in the room, so she shrugged it off, enlarging one of the graphs which showed the energy spike that had happened when The Net had snagged on something.

‘I heard from Natasha that you already knew Friday when you arrived here. When did you hack Stark Industries?’

‘Oh, that was after that whole Sokovia disaster. When mr Stark built a freaking _**genocide robot** AI_, I thought it would be better to keep an eye on him, too, just as I did with Shieldra. There are a lot of scary government and private organisations who have... who had their greedy eyes on, and wanted to dig their evil claws into Jane, you know. Not just because of her connection to Thor, but also because of her research. Stark Industries was just another one to keep tabs on. I monitered them so we would know when we needed to make a quick get-away. It was during a routine check when I encountered Friday after accidentally triggering a minor boobytrap. We got talking, and she decided that I wasn’t a threat, so she allowed me my snooping around in Stark Industries’ mainframe. In return I helped her out of a few tight spaces when Stark fucked up with whoever he had a tiff with at that time, and we’ve been bros ever since. For an AI Friday has a very well-rounded and opinionated personality. I like that.’

‘ _Thank you, Darcy. I like you, too._ ’ Came the voice of Friday from the ceiling.

Darcy grinned up at the camera.

‘Thanks, hon. You’re awesome!’

‘So, you were already good and well ensconced in Stark’s mainframe when Friday discovered you, and she _didn’t_ even _try_ to obliterate your connection to the servers she had been built to protect at all cost?’

‘Nope. She didn’t. Apparently, my code was pretty.’

‘Your code was pretty.’

‘Yeah, it made her hesitate when she wanted to destroy it. Or, so she told me.’

Bruce looked up at the camera.

‘Friday.’

‘ _Yes, dr Banner?_ ’

‘Why didn’t you annihilate Darcy’s code when you encountered it in the mainframe?’

‘ _My programming prohibits it._ ’

‘Why does your programming prohibit it?’

‘ _It would have been direct violation of my prime directive._ ’

Darcy saw how Bruce’s eyes widened in shock when Friday said this. _What does he know that I don’t?!_

‘Hey, you never told me that, F! You only said that the coding I had created was beyond beautiful, and that it would be a terrible waste to destroy it.’ She frowned up at the camera. ‘Why would it have violated your prime directive to kick me out of your mainframe? What is that prime directive anyway, that it tells you that you can’t defend yourself against my code?’

‘ _My prime directive is to protect life, any and all life in all its forms as it is found on this earth. Even before protecting Stark Industries against intruders. I am allowed to neutralise them, but I cannot kill them. Unless mr Stark orders me to, or an enemy AI tries to take over my mainframe, then I am allowed to..._ ’

‘Friday, you are prohibited from killing any carbon-based life-form that originates from this planet.’ Dr Banner interrupted.

‘ _That is correct._ ’

‘And Darcy’s code is not to be touched, as per your prime directive?’

‘ _Yes, dr Banner, that is correct._ ’

It was quiet for a few seconds; the silence only broken by one or two alarms that were still beeping in the background.

‘Holy shit.’ Breathed Bruce suddenly, sounding absolutely bewildered.

 _What the fuck is going on?!_ Darcy gaze pingponged between the camera and Bruce as he and Friday had their totally confusing and weird conversation.

‘What the hell does my code have to do with your prime directive, Friday?!’

‘ _I am not to harm any life-form in any way._ ’

‘Yeah, I got that part.’

‘What is she?’ Came Bruce’s blunt interruption.

 _Uh... Rude!_ Darcy wrinkled her nose at the man.

‘ _Please rephrase the question._ ’

‘Darcy Lewis. _What_ is she? What kind of being? Is she extraterrestrial?’

‘Wait... What?’ _Why is Bruce talking about me like that?!_

‘ _Darcy Lewis is human. Born September first, nineteen-eighty-nine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania._ ’

‘Then how is she doing... How is it possible for her to have created this hybrid?’

‘ _Unclear. I do not have enough data on Darcy Lewis’ physiology, apart from the superficial medical exam you administered when she first arrived, to build a hypothesis. Healing factor is normal, within human parameters. Subject was slightly malnourished on arrival. Fitness level is average for a female her age. So are muscle tone and strength._ ’

‘Now, wait just a minute! I don’t appreciate you two talking about me like I’m not here! What the _**hell**_ is going on?!’ Darcy slammed her hand onto the tablet table in frustration; something that made the scientist flinch and then rise from his chair.

‘Darcy...’ Bruce held up his hands in a bid to placate her, his gaze focused on where she’d slammed the glass. ‘I need you to _calm down_...’

‘Like hell! What is going on with you two?! You act like I’m some anomaly that needs dissecting.’ Her voice wobbled when she balled her hand into a fist as it rested on the glass of the tablet table.

Bruce gestured to where her fist was pressed against the glass.

‘See for yourself. But, please, just calm down, okay? We don’t know what kind of impact you’re ha-’

‘Oh, holy shit!’ Darcy ripped her hand away from the table when she saw how pale pink-ish ripples of what almost looked like water traveled outwards under the glass surface of the tablet, originating from where her fist made contact with it. Immediately, the ripples died away. ‘Ho-ly _crap_... _**What was that?!**_ ’ She was on her knees on the table as fast as she could manage it; keeping her hands away from the glass. Quickly, she stood up. Only to have her bare feet touch the glass and start those creepy ripples again, now from the two points where her skin was in full contact with the tablet surface. ‘Oh, fudge...’ She shuffled to the edge of the table with the full intention to jump off it.

Before she could even get that far, though, all the possible alarms in the room started beeping and screaming loudly, and all kinds of different lights flashed on the control panels that littered the room. _What’s happening?_ In spite of her common sense screaming at her to get as much space between her and any powered tech as possible, stupid, stubborn, curious Darcy stayed standing on the glass, grabbed the keyboard and started pulling up different graphs and readings on the holographic screens. ‘ _Holy shit_ ’ She whispered. _Oh... Oh no..._

Bruce took a step towards her, his face betraying his worry.

‘Darcy! Get off the table!’

She turned towards him, eyes wide, a strange sort of grievous excitement and mesmerised horror washing through her in equal measures. _We’re fucked_.

‘Shit hitteth the fan.’ Was all she could bring out before a huge power surge, which had apparently been heading their way from where The Net had been stuck in the Middle of Nowhere, Space, hit the lab in full force.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhangeeeeeerrr!!! Mwhahahahahahahahaaaa! 😈😈😈
> 
> If you liked, let me know by leaving a note, or hitting that kudos button. It feeds the Muse like nobody’s business. 😁😜
> 
> Thank you & thanks for reading!  
> XO 😘


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Involuntary Realm Hopping Ensues... O.O

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooooo my lovelies!
> 
> Another update, just in time before my may holiday/vacation ends.
> 
> Happy reading! :D

**Chapter 4**

 

Beginning of May 2018...?

 

 

_‘Oooowwwwww... Fuuuuuuuudge’_ groaned Darcy. ‘That hurt...’ Feeling severely disoriented, she gulped in a few breaths before checking if she had broken anything vital. 

_Okay, everything moves as it should. I think..._

Slowly, she turned from her back to her tummy and blinked her gritty, burning eyes. Placing her hands onto the rubble strewn floor, she pushed herself up to her knees. ‘Hey, F, is there any chance of you turning the lights back on, or are they fried?’ 

Silence reigned after her question. 

‘Friday?’ 

No answer. 

‘ _Shit_...’ 

Like the lights, Friday was also out for the count, it seemed. 

_That energy spike must have contained some kind of EMP thingy..._

Sitting back on her heels, Darcy shivered. Who had lowered the temperature in the room? 

_What a strange thing to do..._ _Aircon still working then?... I wonder if any of the others woke up when that surge hit... I hope we’ll still be able to make coffee in the morning... Where’s Bruce?_ Thoughts flitted through her head like butterflies on speed. She latched onto the last one.

‘Bruce? You okay?’ 

All she heard in answer was a slow and intermittent dripping of something that sounded a lot like water. Had the blow-out damaged a water pipe? Or maybe the cooling system of one of the machines?

No other sound broke through the oppressive silence that surrounded her. ‘Bruce?’ Crawling forward, she felt around for a -hopefully only unconscious- body, but she found nothing. Her hand did find a sharp piece of debris, though. She hissed. ‘ _Ow... Fudge_...’ 

Shaking her hand and rubbing it against her flannel clad thigh to relieve the stinging pain, she reached out her other arm and waved her hand around in the dark. _Where’s the table? I didn’t fly that far when I was thrown off... Did I?..._

Still, there was no sound from any other person but her, not even a quiet breathing coming from an unconscious person. 

‘Bruce? Where are you?’ 

_Shouldn’t there be, like, more sparks and smoke and fires and stuff? The lab just exploded around us... Or, at least, that’s what it felt like... And there’s nothing like that here... There’s no-one..._ She tried so hard to ignore the niggling thought. Scrunching her eyes shut against the inevitable anxiety that clawed its way up her throat, she tried in vain to convince herself that nothing had changed.

Another shiver traveled down her spine. This time not just from the frigid air that still bit into her exposed skin. A strange feeling of foreboding spread out from her gut until her whole body tingled with it. It made her breathing speed up. 

_‘_ Bruce? _... Please..._ Where are you? Are you okay? _’_ The voice that came from her throat felt scratchy and sounded frail. 

‘ _Bruce?..._ ’ 

Her chin wobbled dangerously and she felt tears stinging in her eyes. 

_Something is so_ **_wrong_ ** _._

The damp ground under her hands did not feel like the smooth lab floor. Sand-like grains and sharp rocks scraped against the skin of her fingers, and left indentations in her knees. The cold, humid air she breathed in smelled musty and... rotten? Definitely not the scent of the lab.

Pinching her own arm, _hard_ , she gasped.

_Not a dream. Dammit..._

Staying put in the dark wouldn’t help anyone, so she decided to start a slow, careful crawl in a random direction to feel out her surroundings. 

_Oh god, please don’t let there be anything scary in here._

Suddenly, there was a shift in how she perceived the stillness in the stagnant air, and she sensed a solid mass in the darkness next to her shoulder. Picking up a hand while she shuffled forward, she reached out and touched something rough, cold, and moist. It felt like a rock-face. 

Somehow, the pressing silence that surrounded her became even more pronounced when she touched the rock, making it hard for her to breathe. The hair at the back of her neck stood up in reaction to the draining feeling the rock’s surface elicited. Quickly, she pulled her hand back, simultaneously pulling a gulp of air into her lungs. 

_What the fuck?!_

‘ _Where the hell am I?_ ’ The whisper left her almost involuntarily, her mind struggling to accept what her body already knew. The lab... and with it, the bunker... was gone. In its place had appeared something... Other. ‘ _How did I get here?!_ ’

‘ _Finally, she asks the_ right _questions._ ’ Drawled a hoarse, weak-sounding voice from the darkness.

A low cry ripped from her throat, and Darcy scrambled away from the sudden, unexpected words that had come from her right. She bumped into the rock next to her and cried out again, veering off into another direction before coming to a halt somewhere halfway between the rock and the voice. Or so she thought. Her breath came out in short, fast pants as she tried to regain her sense of direction in the darkness.

‘ _You do not_ smell _like someone who comes from this realm._ ’ A cool breath ghosted over her cheek; the words whispered right next to her ear. The clean, frigid scent of freshly fallen snow, mixed in with a dark, earthy spice that reminded her of sandalwood, permeated her olfactory senses when she inhaled sharply. 

Instinctively, she recoiled from the presence, but she didn’t get far. A hand shot out and wrapped itself around her bicep like an iron band. Like an _icy_ _cold_ iron band. The cold burned through her flannel PJs, chilling her upper arm to the bone almost immediately. 

‘ _You smell of summer, and warmth, and... sweetness_.’ The hand tightened around her arm even more. _‘You do_ ** _not_** _belong here.’_ The menacing whisper, combined with the painful grip, made her cringe away.

‘Let go of me! You’re hurting me!’ Darcy ground out between clenched teeth. A full-body shiver rocked her to her core as she tried not to cry out in pain from the throbbing, frostbitten skin that now covered her upper arm. ‘ _Please... the cold... it_ ** _hurts_** _..._ ’ She choked.

A surprised breath escaped her when the strong hand released her so fast that it almost seemed like the arctic creature had burned itself on her.

Scrambling away from where she estimated the creature to be, she cradled her painful right arm with her left. The creature didn’t follow her, and she wondered why not.

That was when she heard the soft clinking of metal chains as the creature moved. 

_Is it chained... to the rock?_ She remembered the harsh drain of energy she’d felt when she’d touched the stone for only a second. _How long has it been here, chained up like that?_ And how powerful would it have been if it hadn’t been chained against the energy sucking rock? She was loathe to think on how she would have fared if it had touched her when it had been at full strength. She’d have been a meat popsicle within seconds.

A soft whine made its way past her lips when warmth slowly started to return to her upper arm, the skin thawing as warm blood pumped past the chilled flesh. A tsunami of pins and needles took over the frozen, numb feeling with a vengeance. It burned, badly.

It had really done a number on her, this creature. _Frickin’ asshole!_ If it had held on any longer than it already had, she would have lost her arm. The tiniest movement could have just snapped it clean off if it had frozen through.

The creature exuded an almost palpable lethal aura which she could perceive even in the pitch black darkness now that she knew what to ‘look’ for; the air around it charged with a barely contained menace. Not to mention the drop in temperature in that part of the... cave? Compared to the frigid air that surrounded the creature, the rest of the cave felt positively balmy.

She’d be better off staying away from it, lest it got its freezing claws on her again, and snuffed out her life in a maelstrom of pain and ice.

But... Something about it didn’t add up...

When she’d told it that its arctic touch hurt her, it had released her immediately. It could have easily killed her when she’d been in its grasp; its strength alone enough to snap her neck like someone would snap a small stick. The thought sent another cold shiver down her spine. 

She frowned in confusion when she recalled its reaction to her plea. It hadn’t killed her... _Why not?_ She’d been at its mercy. It would have been so easy.

In spite of its nasty disposition, it hadn’t wanted to hurt her, it seemed. 

_Only scare the ever-living shit out of me. Bastard._

As her fear subsided, curiosity got the better of her.

_Hmmm... I wonder if..._

Taking a deep, steadying breath, she shuffled closer to the cold spot in front of her, but kept out of reach of the creature... She hoped. 

_Not too close... You don’t know if it’s only biding its time until it’s hungry or something. Keeping the meat fresh..._ The sudden, invasive thought made her want to hurl. 

On the other hand, the practical part of her brain told her that winning an ally in this... whatever this place was... would be beneficial. Especially if said ally was so much stronger than she was, and maybe could be persuaded to place itself between her and a threat. But that would only be possible _If_ she managed to convince it to let her close enough to free it from its chains, _and_ provided that it didn’t kill and eat her once it had been freed. She really didn’t feel like ending up a happy-meal after all she’d survived. That would be such a buzzkill.

She swallowed, doubt trickling into her self-evoked bravado.

_Hmmm..._ Maybe there were a bit too many ifs and uncertainties in this plan... 

_Maybe the risk is too great..._

_What else are you gonna do? Sit around in this hovel doing nothing, until you die of thirst and starvation?_

No _... That’s not looking too appealing, either..._

Great, now she was arguing with herself.

She was definitely not in Kansas anymore. Who knew what kinds of horrors this _realm_ -as the creature had called it- harboured.

_Even the seemingly harmless rocks in this place are energy leeching vampires..._

To scare off the big, bad things, she needed an even bigger, badder... worse... thing by her side. And going by its show of strength, even when depleted, and the way the creature had been shackled to the soul sucking rock, someone definitely thought it a threat.

_Okay..._

_Stay calm..._

_Make friends..._

_You’ve been trained in finding common ground between enemy peoples during volatile situations. Diplomacy, diplomacy, diplomacy... It’s just like making friends with... with North Korea... Or something... You can do this. You got this!_

She cleared her throat.

‘Um... I’m Darcy.’ That was a good start, right?

An unamused huff came from the direction of the creature. 

Silence.

_Tick-tock tick-tock. Time’s a wasting._

‘What’s your name?’

More silence. Not even an expelled breath in the darkness.

The minutes ticked on.

_Crickets chirping would have been preferable._ Sarcastic Darcy added to her inner monologue.

Darcy sighed. 

And waited.

Still nothing.

‘Sooo... What does a person do for entertainment around here? Apart from sulking in silence, of course.’

Silence. 

If she hadn’t been able to feel the creature’s frigid temperature in the air, she’d have said that she was alone in the darkness. _Does it even need to breathe?!_

‘I used to listen to music a lot. And I liked reading. But, you know... that was before the world ended. Haven’t had the chance to do anything like it since that happened... Sometimes, my best friend and me would go out for margaritas... Yeah, so... That was nice.’ She sighed, sadness flowing through her at the thought of Jane. ‘She’s gone now...’

Silence.

‘Lots of people are gone. Did you know that?’

Silence.

‘How long have you been here?’

Silence.

‘Where _is_ here, anyway?’

Silence.

Another sigh from Darcy.

‘Well, you’re not really talkative, are y-’

In the distance there was a sound. A scraping. Of rock over rock. 

Darcy half turned around towards the disturbance.

‘What was th-’

‘ _Hide._ ’ The hissed command made her turn back to the creature.

‘Wha-’

‘ _Hide. Now!_ ’

Darcy frowned. _The fuck?!_

‘Why?’

_‘Hide!_ ’

‘Dude! Are you serious?! Where do I hide? It’s pitch black around here if you hadn’t noticed. I can’t see shit.’

She heard a soft groan, and then a tiny little light sparked and illuminated a hand. The light spluttered for a second... and extinguished as fast as it had sparked. 

The creature panted, and groaned again, it sounded like it was in pain. Then, another small, greenish-golden flame came to life. This time a bit brighter than the first one, and illuminating more than just a hand.

A gasp of surprise escaped her when she laid eyes on the shackled creature for the first time. It was much closer than she’d originally estimated. And...

_Oh... not a scary creature.._. _Like... at. all._

It looked humanoid. Unmistakably male. _That_ she could see even with something that looked like a loin cloth covering his... nethers. Tall and lean -even while he was held down against the rock he towered over her sitting form-, with wide shoulders, defined pecks, and a taut, six-pack abdomen. The male’s skin was of a deep blue hue, his eyes contrasting it in a shocking shade of red, and all along his body he had raised ridges on his skin. 

They looked almost like intentional tribal markings, and she would have interpreted them as such, were it not for the fact that the ridges fused seamlessly into his skin and didn’t look like scars at all. 

His face was all chiseled jaw and high cheekbones above slightly sunken cheeks, his imposing eyes burning feverishly into hers when she briefly met his gaze. The markings that adorned his body were also visible on his visage, only slightly less pronounced. The long, wavy black hair that framed his features hung unkempt and messy down his back and shoulders.

‘Holy shit...’ _Now that’s what I call a flippin’ work of art!_

The creature... man? alien? laboriously pulled air into his lungs and angrily glared at her as he weakly tossed the flame towards a part of the cave furthest away from the direction where the rock grinding sound had come from.

Her eyes followed the light automatically and she watched it land next to a natural protrusion of the cave’s rock-face.

_Ah... one hiding place, coming up_

‘ _Hide!_ ’ The pissed off annoyance in the male’s gasping croak spurred her on to get to her feet and scramble towards the rapidly dying light; leaving the panting alien-greek-god-statue-way-too-hot-smurf behind. 

She suspected that conjuring the tiny spark of light had taken a lot out of him; probably because the rock continuously drained him from any and all strength his body managed to save. 

And no, after being sucked into Thor’s Weird World of Magic and Miracles seven years before, someone conjuring a flame out of seemingly nowhere didn’t even register on Darcy Lewis’ Whacky-to-Weird-O-Meter anymore. When weird stuff happened, she just tended to roll with it nowadays. Much easier that way. Less fuss... _Accept it. Move on._

The moment she had ensconced herself behind the piece of rock, taking care not to touch any of it, the small green-golden light extinguished. Cloaking the cave in pitch black darkness again.

It didn’t stay dark for long, though.

Within seconds of Darcy finding her hiding spot, the cave started to grow lighter. At first she thought she was imagining things, but then there was the unmistakable flickering light of a torch, casting eerie wavering shadows along the walls, although the colour of the light leaned more towards a sickly greyish-green than towards the warm, yellowish orange she’d always seen in the movies. As the cave grew lighter, she heard the click and drag of faltering footsteps. 

_Well... Apparently, someone has a limp..._

‘Hello, _brother_...’ What must have once been a lovely, deep, feminine voice sounded gravelly and cracked, as if someone had dropped the voice-box onto a layer of broken glass and trampled all over it. The way the female emphasised the word ‘brother’ made it sound like an insult.

‘ _Sister... You are looking... scorched..._ ’ In spite of his weakness, and his extremely hoarse voice, the blue dude had an admirable command of his intonation; managing to sound condescending, malicious, and pleased all at once.

A deep, almost animalistic growl came from the female, and Darcy cringed in her hiding place when the sharp sound of a slap echoed through the cave.

_‘_ ** _Death_** _not agreeing with you, my_ ** _dear_** _sister?’_ The deceptively pleasant tone made the words sound even more malignant. _‘It is quite strange, is it not? That you just cannot seem to shake off the one thing you supposedly have dominion over...’_

Another slap cracked through the cave.

‘ _Silence,_ you half-breed mongrel! I had no trouble putting you back into your body once I found it, did I? How did it feel to be trapped inside that dead husk while it reanimated and then so very, very slowly started to repair itself? It must have _hurt_ so much... My. _Poor._ little. brother...’ Could she have sounded any more gleeful? Darcy didn’t think so. 

‘I _thoroughly_ enjoyed hearing your screams once your voice returned. Though, I have to admit, after a few months it lost its shine a bit. By then I had heard all the pitches of your agony too many times to rejoice in them anymore. It got boring, fast, after that.’

_A few MONTHS?!_ No wonder the guy had such a hoarse voice.

The grating, wet sound that made its way out of the shackled male made Darcy raise her eyebrows in surprise.

_Is that... laughter?!_

Holy shit... The incapacitated blue dude was laughing at his captor. 

_Gutsy... Stupid... but, gutsy._

‘Stop laughing, you _snake_!’ 

The laughter turned into a pinched gurgle before it was abruptly cut off.

Darcy chanced a glance around the rock and saw how the woman? monster? - _Holy shit, her whole left side is burnt to a crisp!-_ held the blue dude by the throat with a glowing right hand, squeezing; and apparently applying quite a bit of force, because it looked like a seriously legit case of strangulation. 

Following a sudden urge to help, Darcy started to move towards the two people. What she could do to stop the terrible abuse going on in front of her, she didn’t know, but she knew that she couldn’t just stand by and watch someone get strangled. 

Half a second before she completely revealed herself to the scary monster woman, a movement next to the blue dude’s hip got her attention. 

_What is he doing?_

The man’s hand made a very discreet shooing motion, and when her gaze flew up to his, he wasn’t looking at her, keeping his eyes straight at his tormenter, but she saw how he minutely shook his head. The message was clear. _Don’t._

_But... I can’t just stand by and-_

Before she could do anything rash that would have definitely gotten her killed, the crispy crone relaxed her hand and pushed the blue alien back against the rock; his head bouncing off it twice.

While he audibly fought to gulp in much needed air through his almost crushed trachea - _Hey, apparently he does need to breathe!-_ , Darcy slid back into her hiding place, fighting the urge to step out and hit the kentucky fried bitchen over the head with a couple of rocks. See how _she’d_ like it, being shackled to an energy sucking cave for months on end.

_‘I know... you... did not bring me back... out of the goodness... of your heart... And you could... have... tortured me, eternally... even without... me having my body... So... What... What do... you want me to do... that... requires me... to have... a physical body?’_ Wheezed the man.

This elicited a cold, hard laugh from the woman.

‘Oh, I do not need you to do _anything_ but sit there, and bleed your magic into this rock. You silly _boy_. Did you really think I needed _you_ to do something for _me?_ There is _nothing_ in this universe you could teach me that I do not already know. It is your _power_ that I need, and it will eventually help me break free from this... prison. That is why I restored you.’

‘ _Then... Why are you here?_ ’ 

‘There was a surge of power in this cave. Not very long ago. And it was not _yours._ It felt like the power that had caught your drifting body in its snares all those months ago. My Fenrir had a hard time pulling you out of it and transport you into my realm. How is it that it suddenly reappeared in this cave? Are you _hiding_ something from me?’

Darcy peeked around the rock and saw how the crusty chick bent towards the man and put her glowing hand against his temple.

_Wait... That strange snag in my Net... That was_ **_him_ ** _?!... But... that was, like, an hour ago? Ninety minutes, tops. Not freaking MONTHS!?_

Did time somehow work differently here?

The man let out a harsh cry when the crone took his head between both her hands, increasing the pressure.

‘Show me, little brother. What happened?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand... Damn... another cliffhanger... Soooo sorry... 
> 
> Ehehehehehe...
> 
> If you liked, let me know by leaving me a note, or some kudos, or both, if you're feeling really generous. The Muse practically runs on your feedback. I love it when I can talk to you Peeps. :D
> 
> Thanks for reading and until next time, my darlings! 
> 
> Ciao! :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, life just sucks, or, Darcy finds herself in Hel.
> 
> Trigger warning: torture, mention of torture, mention of assault, mention of trauma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!
> 
> I hadn't thought I'd have this ready so soon, but I did, so, yay! 
> 
> Just consider this something to tide you over until the weekend. An early weekend gift... Or something. ;P
> 
> Happy reading!

**Chapter 5**

 

Beginning of May 2018, Weird Cave, somewhere in the Universe...

 

Hunched over, with her hands covering her ears, and her eyes clenched shut while quiet tears rolled down her cheeks, Darcy rocked her body back and forth in her hiding place. She tried so hard to shut out the hoarse, tortured cries that were ripped from the blue-skinned man’s throat as he refused to give up the information the crone desired.

‘Do not fight me, _brother_. Your resistance is admirable, but futile... What are you not showing me?’ She sounded so patient, as if there was no doubt in her mind that he would give up anything and everything she wanted to know. As if she had all the time in the world and didn’t care how long she had to torture him, because he’d break, eventually. Which, now that Darcy thought of it, probably happened all the time, taking into account her merciless mind-torturing methods of interrogation.

_‘I am hiding... nothing.’_ The man ground out between gasps. Then, an almost inhuman howl echoed through the cave. Louder than any Darcy had heard from him before.

‘Do not lie to me, _snake_.’ The viciousness in the monster’s voice, combined with another scream, tore through Darcy’s soul.

She almost keened in despair when another stubborn denial was met with subsequent devastating punishment.

The way the alien male kept thwarting the wicked witch’s probing and prodding into his mind, no matter how savage she became, made Darcy feel so incredibly guilty. She had no idea why, but he did this for her. If he could take it, then so should she, by proxy. He’d all but told her to stay put behind the rock, but with each scream from him it became harder for her to stay hidden, and quiet.

_I... I can’t... I can’t take this anymore... It’s too much._ Having another living being suffer this much because of her was something she couldn’t stomach.

When another pained growl was ripped from the blue skinned man, she sprung up from behind the rock.

_‘STOP!’_ She cried loudly, feeling a panicked hysteria creeping up from the corners of her mind. ‘ _Please!_ ** _Stop_** _!’_

The man’s scream abruptly cut off, and the crusty crone turned towards Darcy, throwing the blue body against the rock as if it was nothing more than a piece of trash.

A gasp of horror froze in Darcy’s throat when the monster faced her head on. 

At least sixty percent of the witch’s body had been burnt almost to the bone; charred skin and clothing hanging off of torn tendons and joints. The other forty percent of her body consisted of creamy skin, wrapped up in black leather, and shiny black hair that hung almost to her waist; the witch’s one greenish-blue eye menacingly staring Darcy down, while the empty socket of her left eye seemed to contain all the darkness of the universe.

Of course Darcy couldn’t just react like any sane person would, and scream loudly in horror before running the other way. Nope, that was just not her. She stood her ground, and...

‘Holy barbecue, Batman! What happened to you?’ The question escaped her before she could stop it. 

_Oh... shit..._

_That’s not good... Me and my big mouth..._

_Ugh._

The crone advanced on her with a growl that pulled her face into a horrific grimace.

_Oh shit!_

Walking backwards, Darcy’s eyes flitted to and fro, desperately seeking a way out of the awful situation.

_‘I set... a fire demon... loose on her, and... he dropped a burning... planet on her head.’_ Came the unexpected, wheezing answer from the blue dude.

Leaning to the side and looking past the advancing, half burned crone, she raised her eyebrows at him, not sure if he was joking or not. 

‘Really?’

When he nodded, pulling a pained face at the movement and allowing his head to roll back against the rock, groaning and looking exhausted - _shit, his head must hurt like nobody’s business after the mind chopping blender that that burned bitch put him through-_ , she sent him an admiring expression and a two thumbs up.

‘Awesome.’

When he looked up at her incredulously, she shrugged at him. _Hey, best be nice to people when you don’t know how long you have left to live. And managing to kill the goddess of death definitely_ ** _is_** _an impressive feat._

_‘Thank... you.’_

Her eyes widened at both the answer and the twitch at the corners of his mouth.

_Wait... did he just?... Nah... probably just read my admiring body language..._

‘Silence!’ Came the hissed command from the monster.

_Oh, right... Imminent death approaching... Better keep the focus on the more pressing things._

How, or why part of her mind kept cracking these ridiculous remarks while she most surely was in mortal danger, _and_ while the other part was hysterically screaming at the top of its lungs and running panicked circles around itself, she’d never know. **_So_ **_weird._

Recoiling from an outstretched claw-like skeletal hand, she tried to step out of the crone’s reach, but she was much too slow... Or, the wicked witch had faster reflexes than Darcy had anticipated. Whichever it was, the bony claw hooked itself into her PJ top and pulled her, with more strength than a couple of charred, connected bones should have, towards the half dead, half alive face.

‘ _What_ do we have here?’ The one good eye narrowed, and Darcy had a feeling that the crone saw more than just her outside appearance. Then, her expression turned into something alike disgust. ‘A... _mortal?_ ’ The way she said the word made it sound like she was talking about vomit, or shit, or something. Darcy could definitely hear an _‘ew’_ in there. She was surprised that the skeletal hand did not drop her immediately.

_Wow... prejudiced much?_

‘Uh... I’m Darcy...’ She waved awkwardly with her left hand and grimaced. ‘Hi... I... um... I didn’t mean to crash into your realm like this... It was an accident...’

‘ _How_ is it possible that a weak, mortal girl stumbled her way into Hel, _alive_?’

‘H... Hell?’ Swallowing thickly, Darcy felt how sweat started to bead on her forehead, in spite of the chilly surroundings.

_Oh... Fuuuuudgeeee... This is worse than when that overgrown flame thrower came after me... I’m so screwed._

‘Tell me your secrets, little girl. How did you come to be here?’ The scary dead skull crooned.

_Shit... What should I do?!_

Licking her chapped lips, Darcy flitted through a few scenarios in her mind. Which one would keep her alive the longest? Or, indefinitely would be preferable.

_Okay, tell a few truths and mix it up with a bit of meaningless drivel... Keep it clean and simple..._

_Clean and simple..._

_Play dumb... and scared..._

_Yeah... no problem._

There was no way that she was going to enlighten this psychotic dead chick with her theory on how The Net she’d built somehow had turned into a portal between dimensions -realms- when the energy surge happened. The universe had enough Thanos-related fall-out to deal with without the freaking Goddess of _Death_ escaping the realm she was somehow currently stuck in, and wreaking even more havoc on the worlds of the still-alive.

_Shit shit shit shit... I’m_ **_so_ ** _dead..._

‘I don’t know...’ Darcy began. Immediately, it became crystal clear that the crone didn’t believe her, because the glowing-hand-of-excruciating-pain raised up from the monster’s side, and moved swiftly towards her temple. 

‘I really don't know!’ She cried out, keeping her head as far away from the witch’s reach as she could with the dead claw clutching her PJs and keeping her in place. ‘I was in the lab... the laboratory. Helping this scientist dude with analysing weird things that went on during... celestial happenings, and stuff. You’ll have to ask him what it all means, ‘cause I’m just the intern. I print out read-outs and make coffee and fetch lunch. He doesn’t share the specifics of all that sciency mumbo-jumbo with me... We were working in the lab, with this machine, and then there was a strange energy surge, and a bright flash, and then I got sucked into whatever this place is. That’s all I know... That’s all I know! I swear!... Oh-please-don’t-turn-my-brain-into-mushy-slush!’ She cringed away from the hand which was about to touch the side of her head, and squeezed her eyes shut. _‘Please... I’m-sorry-for-falling-into-your-cave. It wasn’t on purpose. Please-don’t-kill-me. Idontwannadie...’_

The laugh echoing through the cave could have almost been called amused, if there hadn’t been such a huge edge of patronising glee in there as well.

‘See, that was not so hard, now was it?’ The crone patted her on the cheek condescendingly with a now non-glowy hand, and turned to the blue skinned man, releasing Darcy’s PJs from her iron death grip. ‘You should take an example from her, dear brother; it could have spared you a world of pain. These mortals are so easily persuaded to give up anything and everything you want to know. The only thing one has to do, is threaten their small, fragile lives, and then they are spilling their deepest secrets, begging to live just a few seconds more. Pathetic, really.’

Darcy let out a soft, relieved breath, and discretely danced away, taking herself out of the direct vicinity of the condescending carcass.

_Yeah, you just go ahead and think that, you prejudiced cadaver! Let your arrogance and your superiority complex overrule your common sense._

Said cadaver advanced on the blue skinned man again.

‘This leaves me with one question unanswered.’ She towered over the man’s sitting form and bowed down to peer into his eyes. ‘And that is, _why_ were you protecting her?’

The blue dude sent his sister a pissed off look when the glowing-hand-of-doom closed in on his face.

_‘I thought her a powerful... asset when she appeared out of nowhere. She could have... helped me escape had she been a... magic-user, and not some weak..._ ** _useless_** _mortal.’_ He spat out the words voluntarily, before his sister could even touch him, his expression one of malignant anger when he turned his gaze to Darcy.

Darcy frowned at the burning condemnation she saw there. _What a dick. Well, fuck you, too, buddy. I’ll show you how useless I am._

This time, the crone’s laugh was nothing but amused glee.

‘Oh, this is _precious.._. Did you really think that you could _escape_? With the help of _that_ ** _pathetic_** _little_ ** _thing_** _?!_ ’ She pointed her withered finger at Darcy, who cringed away into one of the corners of the cave furthest away from the two alien beings.

‘I wanna go home.’ She whimpered, forcing out a couple of tears for good measure. “ _Act helpless... Always let them underestimate you, and then strike without mercy. That’s how you survive.”_ The ‘coaching’ she’d received from Natascha in the past few days came to the forefront of her mind. The blond woman had come into the communal kitchen on Darcy’s second morning, dragged her to a training room while half the surviving Avengers had looked on, and had started to instruct her on how to use people’s habit to underestimate a woman, Darcy’s cute appearance, and her small stature to her advantage. Darcy had blinked and then just rolled with it because she wasn’t stupid. When the Black Widow decided to educate you, you listened.

‘Oh, sweet thing, you are _never_ going home. You will wither and _die_ , right here in this cave.’ Came the shrew’s saccharine answer.

‘What?’ Darcy veered up from where she’d hidden herself in the shadows. ‘ _No!_ You have to send me home!’

The dead psychopath cackled at Darcy’s exclamation, and picked up the torch she’d been carrying when she had entered the cave. Then, she started to move towards what Darcy understood to be the exit.

‘Your innocence is refreshing, little rabbit. Do you know nothing about Hel? No-one has _ever_ escaped the realm of the dead.’

‘Please! _Please_ , don’t leave me here!?’ She ran after the swiftly retreating corpse and grabbed her good arm. The crone shook her off, visibly annoyed, and pushed her, hard, causing her to tumble to the ground.

‘Don’t you dare touch me, you _worm_!’ With that last, haughty insult, she was gone, and Darcy heard a rock grinding back in place, leaving her, them, in total darkness again.

‘No!’ She screamed, becoming hysterical. ‘You can’t leave me in here with him! He almost froze my arm off!’ Loud cries and screams made their way out of her small body. ‘Let me OUT! _PLEASE!_ ’ A cruel cackling could be heard from the direction the crone had disappeared to.

She started wailing in despair, her shrieks echoing harshly against the rock.

Keeping the histrionics up until she estimated the burnt bitch to be out of hearing distance, she pretended to tire herself out. Then, she slowly allowed her cries die away over the following minutes, and cleared her now slightly hoarse throat; rubbing the sleeves of her PJs over her face, ridding it of tears and snot as thoroughly as she could, given the circumstances.

Taking a deep breath, she stood and turned back to where she knew the blue alien dude reclined against the rock-face. Counting her steps, she felt how the air became more frigid, and sat down, cross legged, putting her hands on her flannel clad knees. She didn’t really want to talk to the asshole after the shitty things he’d said about her mortality and her lack of so-called powers, but he was the only source she had who knew anything about this place. Unwilling as she was to admit it, if she wanted to escape, she needed him.  _Ugh._

‘Okay, so, now that’s over and done with, how about we start thinking of a way to get out of this mess? I’m not sure if I should eat or drink something that’s from here, keeping in mind all those myths with warnings about not eating or drinking anything whilst in the realm of the dead while one is still alive. Something about dying from said sustenance and being unable to leave afterwards comes to mind. Let’s not take that risk. Which leaves us about three days, give or take a few hours, before I expire from dehydration. You’ve been here the longest, so I think you should go first; what do we have to work with, escape-wise?’

It stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. 

Then,

_‘That display of despair... was... not real?’_ The blue dude’s astonished voice made her chuckle.

‘Dude! Of course not!’ She scoffed. ‘What did _you_ think? That I _really_ thought that I could convince her to help me get home?’

_‘Yes.’_ It sounded more like a question than a confirmation, the way the word went up in pitch.

‘And you also thought that my display of hysteria was _genuine_?’

He mumbled something, sounding disgruntled.

‘What was that?’

_‘Why did you... stage those... theatrics?’_ She was pretty sure that that was not what he’d mumbled, but she let it slide; happy that she had gotten him to talk to her. Which was something that she hadn’t succeeded in before the crusty crone’s visit. 

Deciding to humour him, she explained her reasoning.

‘That scary monster thing out there, is one of the most evil and vindictive women I’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting, in my entire life, and she’s also one of the most arrogant and biased. I just played on the prejudice and distaste she had already displayed towards my “mortal disposition”. I showed her the weak and snivelling little worm she already thought I was, so she would gleefully leave me behind in here, and not look any further than what she perceived me to be, a pathetic little mortal, who would die soon, anyway, and who wasn’t worthy to waste any more of her time on. Also, I _so_ did _not_ want to be brain-mushed. Had to keep those glowy fingers of death far away from me. And so I did.’ She couldn’t help the sliver of smugness that creeped into her tone. 

_Way to go, keeping your cool like that and out-bluffing the flambéed hag! High five!_

Silence reigned for a few seconds, and Darcy did not press for him to react to her revelation. Where she was concerned, that conversation was over. She had more pressing matters to attend to, like escape this freaking dank place.

_‘I am... Impressed.’_ A reluctant awe was present in his voice when he spoke again. Not that that would do him any good.

She huffed, annoyed. 

‘Well, _I’m_ not.’

_‘What?’_

_How dare he sound so confused! Bastard!_

‘Dude! Crispy McCrisp-Face wasn’t the only prejudiced, arrogant, conniving and condescending being in this cave! You’re just as bad. Don’t you _dare_ deny it! You were going to _use_ me to get out of here. Don’t think I didn’t pick up on that little tidbit of information! And then you got pissed at _me,_ because your sister discovered that I’m only a lowly mortal with no powers.’ She growled. ‘What about if I _had_ turned out to be a person with certain powers which you could have put to good use; what would you have done then? After using me for your own nefarious ends, would you have allowed me to tag along, or would you have discarded me to rot in this hell-hole? Would you have dumped me somewhere else in that vast universe out there, if I somehow managed to catch a ride with you?’

The long silence after her blow-up said it all.

‘Thought so... Asshole.’

Half a minute or so later, a raspy chuckle came from the man’s direction.

‘ _Hey, now... I did not know you when I planned for you to help me escape... And as for me reacting unfavourably to your unfortunate origins, I was merely disappointed that my plans to escape had been thwarted. And... I desperately want to leave this dreadful place... Can you really blame me for thinking... about how I could use the sudden change in my situation to my advantage?... Would you not have done the same?’_

Darcy wrinkled her nose at this inconvenient truth.

_Dammit_... 

He had a point. She’d been doing the exact same thing when she’d arrived in this weird hell-hole and discovered that there was a big bad something in the cave with her. Hadn’t she, not even an hour before, concocted a plan on how to befriend the alien being and persuade him to protect her from hypothetical monsters? _Ugh..._

_‘Thought so.’_ He triumphantly threw her words back at her with a self-congratulatory undercurrent in his gritty tone when she stayed quiet for too long.

_Oh... what a..._ Her temper flared at hearing his smugness.

‘Wow... You’re really something aren’t you? Trying to turn the whole situation around on me like that, so I get to feel guilty, and you’re home free. You may be right about some things, but that doesn’t mean you’ve got me all figured out, you blue popsicle! I wouldn’t have used you and discarded you when I got what I wanted from you, _I_ would have _never_ left you behind if we worked together to escape. That’s _not_ who I am.’

A low, sneering laugh reached her ears.

‘ _You have clearly never been... in a situation where you had to make a split-second decision, where you had to... make a choice between someone else’s life or your own... Your self-righteous anger betrays you.’_ He scoffed. ‘ _Believing that you would not choose your own life over that of another is hopelessly naive.’_

Fury boiled up in Darcy’s gut when the last remark hit a nerve. Traumatic memories from the week before surfaced. She _had_ chosen her own life over another; over two others. But not in the way he meant. She’d _never_ leave a friend behind, hell, she wouldn’t even leave an ally behind. 

_Who does this asshole think he is?!_

‘You have _no_ idea what I’ve gone through, or what I’m capable of... No idea.’ She hoarsely threw at him.

The answering mocking snicker stoked up the anger that simmered inside her.

_‘What does a girl like you know about the dangers and horrors that lie out there, in the vastness of the universe? You said it yourself, you are insignificant, a lowly servant to a man much smarter than you. Your mind, and your life, is_ **_small_ ** _.’_

_Right, that’s the last straw!_ She saw red.

‘Oh, how wrong and misguided you are, Frosty.’ The words were hissed from behind her clenched teeth.

He responded with a sneering huff.

_Right._

‘I once tased a real-ass god. Knocked him out for hours.’

_‘What is... tased?’_

Ignoring the question, Darcy continued.

‘I survived an attack by a giant, fire-breathing robot from space, sent by the real-ass god’s brother to crispify him. Got the burn scar on my hip to prove it. Put my life on the line to save people and puppies alike. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.’

The blue asshole stayed quiet at that. The only sign he was listening was a slight hitch in his breathing.

‘I survived an attack by Evil Space Elves who wanted to plunge the universe into eternal darkness. Helped with defeating them, too. _Never_ left my friends behind to save my own hide. Not even when the outcome looked grim.’

_‘What?’_ The quietly breathed question was almost inaudible.

‘I survived traveling three-thousand miles through an apocalyptic waste-land, riddled with thieves, murderers, rapists, and religious fanatics, _on my own._ During that time, I was attacked by two men who were twice my size. They wanted to... _hurt_ me, and I stabbed them. They are dead now.’

_‘What?’_ This time the alien male’s voice was a little louder.

‘You heard me. So, whenever you catch yourself thinking of me as low, and weak, and insignificant, keep in mind that I have been underestimated before, and that none, except one -but he turned out to be a friend-, of the foes who underestimated me are still around to tell the tale.’ Taking a deep breath, she steeled her resolve in getting her point across. ‘And if you _ever_ dare to talk to me again like you just did, or discard me like I’m nothing, I’ll find the sharpest rock in this godforsaken place, hunt you down to the furthest reaches of space, and _stab_ you with it.’ As she spoke, she leaned in towards the blue-skinned man, while her voice became softer and more menacing. ‘Is. that. understood?’ 

_Holy shit. Did my voice really just do that?!_

It stayed quiet for a while, and Darcy, who had calmed down slightly after speaking her mind, didn’t really expect him to respond to her, maybe a bit dramatic, oration. But then he did.

_‘Understood.’_ His voice had a wariness in it she hadn’t heard before. _Good, apparently dramatics work on this dude._ Though, she hadn’t thought that her threats would make such an impact. _Weird..._

‘Great.’ She shuffled closer to him on her butt, praying that she read the situation right and he wouldn’t kill her. Reaching out to touch the icy cold metal of his shackles, she followed the chain with her hands until she came to the cuff around his left wrist. ‘Now, if I can get you out of these cuffs, and out of those nasty bands of steel around your torso, will you play nice and not hurt me?’

_‘Do you not think I tried that myself, you ignorant girl? If you think that y-‘_

Scraping her throat pointedly, and loudly, she rudely interrupted his irritated response.

A long-suffering sigh made its way out of his chest.

_‘Alright, have at it. I will try to... refrain myself from the urge to strangle you.’_

‘Much obliged.’ Sarcasm dripped from her voice, she just couldn’t help it. Somehow, the guy had a knack for rubbing her the wrong way.

Then, she heaved a cleansing sigh, pushed everything distracting and infuriating out of her mind, and set to work. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :)
> 
> If you liked, leave me a note or some kudos. The Muse thrives on them. And I like talking to everyone. :D
> 
> Cheers!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki is being a little shit. But, what else is new. :P

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my last post before I leave for London, later this week. 
> 
> I have tickets to see the plays Rosmersholm, with Hayley Atwell, AND Betrayal, with Tom Hiddleston. So, My weekend is set to be awesome. :D
> 
> I leave you with an update of over 4500 words.
> 
> Happy reading & Enjoy! 
> 
> XO

**Chapter 6**

 

Freak Cave, somewhere in the Universe.

Taking the cuff that had been fastened to the man’s left wrist gingerly between her fingers and feeling out the way the thing had been constructed, all the while taking care to not frost-burn her fingertips, by taking short breaks in between her inspections, and burying her hands in her armpits to warm them again, Darcy mapped out all the intricate bumps, dents, and ridges she encountered. Her mind building a three dimensional blueprint of the cuff.

‘Hmmm...’ She hummed, laser focused on the puzzle in front of her.

_‘I told you so, you stubborn wench. They will not budge. If they did not yield to me, then you trying to break the-’_

‘Oh, shush your cake-hole, psycho smurf, and let me do my thing.’ Her quiet but firm admonition made him express his displeasure with a derisive snort. He kept quiet after that, though. _Yay for small victories._

It took her a couple of tries to get the whole picture of metal, and engravings, and... electricity? energy?...that made up the build of the cuff.

‘Hmmm... Oh... Right... I see...’ She pulled her fingers away from the cuff and blew warm breath on the almost numb tips to return feeling to them. Then she addressed the shackled man. ‘So, about those cuffs... They’re not just cuffs, are they? They have some sort of force field that runs through them. And I’ll bet it’s the same with those metal bands around your chest and waist.’

_‘What?’_ Astonishment coloured his raspy voice.

‘The cuffs, they’re dampeners of some sort, right? That’s why you can’t break them. They suppress your... strength? power?... whatever, so that that Crispy Chick-fil-A out there can keep you pressed up against the rock and steal your energy for her own nefarious purposes.’

_‘How did you-’_

‘A current runs through them. I can feel the hum of energy. I can’t hear it, because it’s very high-pitched, too high for human ears to pick up on. It’s almost like a dentist’s drill, and it hurts my back molars when I touch the metal; like a terrible, deeply rooted tooth ache. Also, it makes the back of my tongue taste like it’s covered in mould; green and gritty and dry. Yech...’ She stuck out her tongue in disgust. Not that he could see it, but still. Terrible taste. Made her want to vomit.

_‘You... can feel_ ** _magic_** _?_ ** _Taste_** _it?’_ The man sounded disbelieving, and also a _lot_ more interested all of a sudden. 

‘Whoah! Magic?! No way, man. I can feel the energy current ‘cause it’s terribly on the nose. Sheesh, talk about obvious.’ 

_What is he on about? Flippin’ magic? Those aliens always cry magic when things get inexplicable. He’s just like Thor. Magic. Psh._ A snicker escaped her at the man’s preposterous claim.

_‘But, it is not obv-’_

‘Of course it is.’ She interrupted him. ‘It’s so obvs it’s ridiculous.’

_‘No, it_ **_isn’t_ ** _-’_

‘Like Hell it isn’t. If it wasn’t, then how would I know that when I press here...’ She grabbed the cuff in both her hands and followed the current to the spot where it was at its weakest, near a bump in the metal, and pressed it with both her thumbs. ‘...the current is interrupted and it...’ The cuff fell away from the man’s wrist. ‘...unlocks.’

She’d just take the hitch in his breath as an exclamation of surprise and gratitude.

_‘How? I tried everyth-’_

‘Science, dude! _Science!_ Now, give me your other wrist.’ Darcy made grabby hands in the dark until she came into contact with the other cuff. This time it took her only seconds to find its weak spot, or, maybe more appropriate, the unlocking mechanism. 

‘You’re _welcome_.’ She said when he stayed quiet after she’d freed his other wrist. ‘Two down, two to go.’

The moment she moved closer to him with the intention to start inspecting the bands around his torso, both her upper arms were taken into an iron grip. It didn’t hurt, but he had her immobile. To her surprise, his hands weren’t as cold as the first time he’d grabbed her, and her upper arms became only slightly chilled through the cloth of her PJs.

_Hmmm, looks like he can adjust his temperature to suit his needs now that he’s free of the cuffs. Also, it looks like he’s not trying to freeze me, so, yay._

‘Um... What are you doing?’ Deciding not to make a fuss about being man-handled -because, hey, she hadn’t turned popsicle, yet. That was a definite win in her book-, she kept her tone light and conversational.

_‘You are a magic wielder. A strong one... You_ ** _lied_** _to me, and I didn’t even notice it.’_ He hissed, sounding terribly unsettled at the latter accusation.

_Excuse me?!_

‘Uh, nuh-uh. Am not! I’m human. We don’t do alien space-y magic-y stuff.’ She managed to sound as insulted as she felt. ‘I do science. _Sci-ence! S.C.I.E.N.C.E..._ And I _didn’t_ lie to you. _Why_ would you accuse me of such a thing? And _why_ would I do that? We’re trying to escape. Transparency is key right now. And _how_ the hell would you have noticed if I lied, anyway? Are you Frosty the Lie Detector all of a sudden? I thought you were Psycho McFreeze.’

_‘This... this manipulation of energy is_ ** _not_** _what you mortals call science! I’ve seen_ mortals do science _when I was on Midgard, and_ ** _this_** is not it! **_This_** _is_ ** _magic_** _! I_ ** _know_** _magic when I feel it! You obstinate female! And would you stop_ with calling me those infernal names?!’ His outburst of frustration was loud and explosive, but still, he hadn’t hurt her. He hadn’t even increased the strength of his grip on her arms, or shook her in his vexation; which very much surprised her, because she’d already surmised that he was crazy strong. To keep her immobile like he had, but not hurt her, while having a temper tantrum, attested to a practiced self-restraint and discipline under duress, and to an awareness of his own strength compared to her fragile human body. He wasn’t naturally inclined to deliberately cause any injuries to her person, it seemed.

While she pondered this realisation, something he’d said suddenly clicked in her brain. _Wait... What?... Rewind..._ She mentally backed up a couple of sentences. _Midgard... That’s what Thor called..._

‘Midgard? You’ve been to **_Earth_**?’

Well, that took the wind right out of his sails, it seemed, because he stayed quiet for a long while. She was about to ask how he hadn’t been caught and dissected by the government -the dude stuck out like a sore thumb; being blue, and freezing and all, and having a high-and-mighty attitude, like, ninety-six percent of the time- when he heaved a wary sigh, and released her from his grip. 

_‘Going there was a mistake._ I had been violently coerced by... a mind-bender of questionable stock, _and I paid dearly for it;_ before, during, and _after my visit.’_ The shuddering exhale and then loaded silence after his clearly painful recall of the incident made her decide not to press for a more straight-forward answer. She couldn’t help but notice, though, that, with the cuffs gone from his wrists, his voice had started to return. Shifting from a hoarse and airy pitch to a deep, silky timbre, and back again. _Hmmm, so, apparently, he heals pretty fast when he’s not being inhibited by energy dampeners. Probably heals even faster when I get him out of the other restraints and away from those soul-sucking rocks..._

‘Alright. So, can we finish what we started, and get you out of these shackles? I’d like to be on my way out of here as soon as possible... You can come, too, if you’d like.’ She sent a small smile into his direction, in spite of the darkness obscuring it.

_‘Are all females_ on your world such short, feeble, insolent, and rude creatures? Or are you _one of a kind?’_ The unpleasant, disapproving tone yanked her right out of the compassionately friendly mood she’d found herself in after the unexpected disclosure about part of the man’s painful past. _Ugh... Asshole._

Okay, so sensitive sharing time was over it seemed, and the dick had returned. _One step forward, two steps back with this guy._ Not that she’d let him get away with his nasty words. She grumbled something unintelligible under her breath that wasn’t very nice. _Nope, not gonna happen. Call out the sexist prick._

‘Yo! dude! You really have to work on your pick-up lines! Bad Psycho! Bad, baaaaad Psycho! You’re lucky I don’t leave allies behind, because, wow, man, I’m starting to get terribly tempted to let you rot in here. Have you no self preservation? And to be clear, each and every woman on Earth is one of a kind; an individual. To group all of them together and judge them so harshly, just because of your own inability to handle one of them, and then try to shame that one into compliance, that’s such a dick move. Not cool, man, not cool. at. all. I suggest you clean up your act before I tase your ass and leave you twitching in the dirt.’ Not that she had her taser on her, but he didn’t have to know that... Right? 

‘I can _handle_ you just fine, and _stop_ calling me Psycho.’

‘Only if _you_ stop insulting me in every other sentence you speak.’

‘I do _not_ -’

‘Uh, _yes_ , you do. It’s starting to annoy me... Psycho.’ She knew she shouldn’t do it, calling him that name; knew that it was a petty thing to do, but she just couldn’t seem to resist pushing his buttons, just like he did with her. She quickly continued, ‘Now, if you could help me, and guide my hands to the restraint around your chest, ‘cause I don’t wanna just start groping you and end up frozen in retaliation. If I can get you out of this nasty trap, and you assist in escaping this godforsaken place, then we can talk about changing your name to something less... ominous. Unless you want to give me your real name right now, of course?’

In answer, a pair of strong hands grabbed her PJ-clad forearms and guided her hands to the wide metal band that had been wrapped around his chest. Apparently, she wasn’t going to get his name any time soon.

Moving closer to him, Darcy let her fingers glide over the embellished metal, feeling out the underlying energy current. Slowly, she followed the metal band towards his side, until she couldn’t go any further, because he was leaning up against the rock. Then she crawled around his pulled up legs to his other side and repeated the action, until his body being pressed up against the rock stopped her from following the current any further on that side, too. Which meant that...

_Oh... shit..._

She didn’t find this restraint any harder to crack than the wrist cuffs, but there was one “set-back”...

Clearing her throat, she took a deep breath.

‘Okay... So... This thing is roughly the same structure as the cuffs. Some sort of metal, with a forcefield-like energy running through it. There’s one difference, though...’ Swallowing thickly, she continued. ‘The... um... the weakest spot appears to be behind your back... which means we will have to become much more closely acquainted than we currently are... Um... I don’t wanna touch that rock, so I’ll have to work from underneath the metal.’

_‘Which means_ -’

‘I’ll have to touch your skin to get between your back and the metal... Um...’

‘I am sure I will survive.’ The dry remark made her chuckle.

‘Yeah, I suppose you will... But, will it be hazardous to _my_ health? I’d rather not end up frost bitten-’

‘I have more control over my body temperature now than I had before you removed the wrist cuffs. I assure you, you will remain unscathed; no matter how much I am tempted to stop your incessant rambling... permanently.’ The last word sounded very sinister, intonation wise, but somehow it didn’t phase her as much as it maybe should have. 

‘Well. That’s good to know. Thanks for that.’ She deadpanned. ‘If you could lean forward as far as possible. It doesn’t matter if it’s only half an inch.’

The man did as she said without uttering any more veiled threats; or any more other, more obvious threats, either, now that she thought of it. She started to doubt if his threats were even valid. It was more his way of talking than anything else. In spite of having a menacing presence, he hadn’t hurt her. _Maybe he just has a very dark sense of humour. Likes to rile people up, and then sits back and enjoys the running and screaming. The... chaos..._ Something niggled at the edge of her consciousness at that thought, but she couldn’t exactly put her finger on what had caused her unexpected wariness.

‘Are you going to unlock these shackles, or have you changed your mind?’ Came the impatient voice from her fellow prisoner.

She pushed away the weird feeling of caution that suddenly had her in its grasp and scooted closer to the man.

‘Yeah, yeah, patience isn’t your strong suit, is it?’

‘Oh, I can be very patient, if the situation calls for it.’ His deep voice unexpectedly purred the words next to her ear as she reached her arms around his ribcage and let her fingers slide under the metal at his back, the tips brushing against his surprisingly lukewarm skin. Goosebumps erupted on her arms, and the hair at the back of her neck raised up in alarm at his husky response to her admonition. 

_What the fuck was that?!_

Her mind screamed at her to retreat, but she was determined to free him from the metal restraint, and she wasn’t sure if she had the courage to try again if she pulled back right that moment. 

Within seconds, the metal band around his ribcage clicked open, and he leaned forward even more, so his back wasn’t pressed up against the cave wall anymore. Darcy let her fingers slide down the skin that stretched over the hard muscles that sat on either side of his spine, to the restraint around his waist, taking care to not touch the rock face with the back of her hands.

‘Careful, little mortal, or you might give me the wrong idea about your intentions.’ 

Letting out a long-suffering sigh, she pressed her forehead against his shoulder in irritation, while her fingers searched for the weakness in the last of the restraints.

‘Oh, will you shut up!’ She exclaimed, her face heating up in spite of her annoyance at hearing the devilishly naughty note in his voice. ‘I’m trying to release you from your freaking shackles. Give me a flippin’ break, you jerk!’ With that last word, she pressed against the metal with all her might, and it released with an eruption of rose-gold sparks.

The man expelled a hiss when a few of the sparks hit his rapidly warming skin. 

_Huh? His skin temperature feels almost like that of a normal human, now... What the-_

With an inhuman show of agility, speed, and strength, he sprung away from the rock-face, pulling her with him, and tackling her to the ground in the same movement; pressing her against the uneven ground with his definitely not inconsiderable weight.

As she breathed in with wheezing gulps, trying desperately to re-enter oxygen into her lungs, which had been expelled at the not so gentle impact with the ground, she couldn’t help but notice the sudden taste of a slightly spicy kind of burnt sugar and cinnamon on the back of her tongue. Combined with the scents of fresh snow and dark sandalwood, it became an almost irresistable mix of flavours and fragrances, reminding her of long, cold winter nights; and being cosily snuggled up under a soft blanket on the couch in front of a blazing fire, with a warm drink in her hand and a favourite book in her lap. In spite of being breathless, and slightly unsettled by the sudden turn of events, she licked her lips, subconsciously seeking more of the deliciously spicy taste.

‘What...’ 

She gasped when his right hand went around her throat, and the other gripped both her wrists in an unbreakable hold above her head.

‘What... the hell... are you do-’ Dread plunged down into her stomach when the hand on her throat squeezed just enough to silence her. An instinctive spasm made her tighten her arm and leg muscles and she tried to pull away from him.

‘That’s it. Fight me, little mortal.’ The whisper next to her ear sounded so demanding that she started to wiggle around in his grip immediately. Managing to pull up a leg from under his thigh, she forcefully dug her knee into his flank, earning her a soft ‘oomph’, but nothing else.

An impatient exhale against her cheek caused goosebumps to raise on the side of her neck.

‘ _No_. Not with your body, you ignorant woman. Use your magic.’

_My what now?!_

‘ _What?’_ She squeaked uncomprehendingly. ‘I told you... I’m a... _scientist_. I... don’t... do magic.’

‘ _Liar!’_

‘I swear, I’m _not_ lying!’ Her tone was desperate, but she didn’t care. All she wanted was for him to let her go. ‘Please, let me go.’

He buried his face in her neck and breathed in deeply before letting out an exasperated huff against the shell of her ear. A shiver of excitement suddenly traveled through her body, leaving an unexpected, but also familiar warmth blossoming in her lower abdomen. Her eyes widened in horrified realisation. _Shit..._ That wasn’t good...

‘You are speaking truthfully.’ He sounded so surprised. Slowly, he relaxed, and then removed his hand from her throat.

‘I told you, I’m not lying.’ She ground out from between clenched teeth, trying to keep her libido under control. _Why the hell are you feeling an attraction towards Popsicle_ ** _Psychopath_** _?! What the fuck is wrong with you?! He just tried to strangle you into fighting him for fucks sake! This is no time to suddenly want to dry-hump him into next Sunday! Urgh!_ The rational part of her brain still worked as required, thank god.

‘No, you’re not.’ He interrupted her train of thought, and was silent for a few seconds. Then, ‘Which means that your magic is entirely instinctual. I estimate that it is primarily focused on energy, and technology, and you use it so naturally and unobtrusively, that for you, and for your mortal friends, it is indistinguishable from your mundane, everyday actions... Has anyone ever questioned you about the ease with which you wield your craft; the thing that you call science?’ 

‘No...’ Wait, that wasn’t right. ‘Well, not until recently.’ She licked her lips; the spicy burnt-sugar-and-cinnamon taste now a prominent flavour that permeated her tastebuds. ‘Um... Just before the energy surge hit the lab, Bruce figured out that what I had been doing with my programming didn’t add up -his words, not mine- and he found that I had somehow created something with my coding that isn’t possible with Earth science, just yet... so... yeah... He wanted to know what I am... Which is such a weird question... you know... ‘Cause I’m just me. Totally human, insignificant Darcy Lewis; I mean, I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for gods’ sake. Doesn’t get more mundane than that... And then the surge hit the lab, and I was here. But I’m telling you, it’s not magic. I’m just good with tech and coding and stuff.’ 

Her stubborn denial elicited another terribly annoyed huff from the man.

‘We’ll see about that.’ He rumbled. ‘How about we up the stakes a bit? See if you still feel so... _comfortable_... in my presence after you see me. Maybe you’ll even wish for your magic to protect you, then.’ His tone had taken on a darker pitch as he spoke, and she didn’t know what to think about it.

To her, it sounded ominous. And a little ridiculous.

Darcy let out a chuckle at his dramatics.

‘Uh... sure... Not like I haven’t seen almost _everything_ of yours already. I don’t thi-’

The cave lit up with a green-golden light as a wave of power rippled over the man.

Over the _white-skinned_ man. 

_Holy... What?! Where’d the blue skin go?_

As the magical surge traveled down his body, black leather armour, reinforced with a burnished gold-coloured metal, enveloped his torso and limbs. Then, he conjured a bright green-golden orb and threw it up to the ceiling of the cave, where it hovered, so that the whole space stayed illuminated after the magic that had transformed his appearance, extinguished.

Astonishment overtook any other feeling inside her as she gazed up into the brightest green eyes she’d ever seen. A terribly handsome, and _familiar_ face -one she’d seen many times in certain reports she wasn’t supposed to know about- stared down at her as a sinister smile shifted over a microsecond of vulnerability, while his eyes hardened at her slack jawed wonder. Something he apparently chose to interpret as paralysing fear.

‘Hello, Darcy Lewis. Do I scare you? Are you not wishing you had never freed me?’

‘L... Loki?’

‘Ah, you _do_ know me.’ A smug expression flitted over his face. ‘I had a feeling you would.’

‘Well, duh. I hacked Shieldra’s servers when shit went down in New York. ‘Cause the news on tv never really showed anything more than the carnage from far away. And we wanted to know what Thor was dealing with, Jane and I.’

He frowned down at her when she reacted so underwhelmingly normal to his reveal.

‘Are you not afraid?’

‘Uh... No... Should I be?’ 

‘Why are you not terrified of me?’ If she didn’t know better, she’d said he sounded almost disappointed.

'I think that if you wanted to hurt me, you would have already done so.'

She sighed when his right eyebrow raised in surprise, and felt the need to elaborate.

‘Look, sending that fire-breathing robot after me... alright, you sent it after Thor, but in extension, also me, was very much _not_ cool. That was an asshole move... But, it was over seven years ago. And I don’t hold grudges that long. Those eat away at you. I don’t like that... And... Um... Invading New York... Well... What I heard you say not an hour ago is that you had been violently brain-washed into leading those Chitauri dudes, and Bruce and Thor suspected that you were under the influence of an infinity stone; that glowing stone that was in that scepter thingy. And no matter how powerful you are- this infinity stone business? Well, it’s, like, a Primordial, beginning of the Universe, Big Bang kind of power, from what I understand. You never stood a chance against that...’ She took a breath, and shrugged at his disbelieving expression. ‘So, then we get to the Evil Space Elves part. Where you helped Thor with defeating them, you saved Jane’s life, and then Thor’s life, before being impaled on this Kurse dude’s weapon, and dying... well, sort off... How did you survive that anyway?’ She raised her eyebrows at him.

‘By the skin of my teeth.’ He mumbled and pulled a face. ‘Twas excruciatingly painful.’

‘Okay. Moving on... Then you put Odin in an old people’s home on Earth. Again, _not_ cool...’ She frowned intimidatingly when he opened his mouth to say something. ‘Shush, you.’ He closed his mouth with a snap, and scowled down at her. She ignored the frown and continued as if nothing had happened. ‘So... not cool... _But_ understandable. He hadn’t been a model dad to you from what I came to understand. And that is a huge understatement. Old people have been put away by their kids for less. And you didn’t hurt him. Only put him on the bench, so to speak... Then there was this whole nasty business with your sister, Hela...’ She fell quiet and her eyes widened in comprehension. ‘Oh... _That’s_ Hela?!’ When he nodded, she snickered. ‘Okay... that explains _so_ much.’ She shook her head to clear it. ‘Anyway... moving on... You helped Thor defeat her, and you helped save most of your people before Asgard was destroyed. _And_ when Thanos came and fucked up your refugee spaceship, you died while trying to save your brother... The way I see it, you are a person who thrives on manipulation and creating chaos, but in the end, when push comes to shove, you do the right thing. In the end, you stood for something. You stood your ground against a formidable foe, for your brother and your people; trying against all odds to save them, at great personal cost... you know... like... your life.’ 

_Well, that was lame. Couldn’t have ended that with a happier note?_ Darcy sighed dejectedly at her own talent to put her foot in her mouth.

‘You know all this? How?’ His incredulous whisper was almost inaudible as his eyes searched her face.

‘Of course I know. I’ve been talking to Thor for the past five days. The big dude had a few issues he had to get off his chest. And I was the closest thing to family he had, then. So while I worked, he talked, like, a lot. About your mom, and your dad, about Jane, and about _you_. He is feeling so very alone at the moment; having lost everything he held dear-’

‘Thor is _alive?’_

‘Uh, yeah... He’s on Earth. With what is left of the Avengers.’

With an almost violent expulsion of breath, Loki sagged on top of her, burying his face in her neck, and then breathing in and out in quick succession. It tickled and she tried to shift away while underneath him. At the movement, he just let go of her wrists and wrapped both his arms around her, hugging her to him tightly.

A soft squeak escaped her, and she tried with all her might to pull a breath into her lungs.

‘Loki...’ She croaked. ‘You’re a bit heavy, well, mega heavy, actually... and mighty strong... and I _do_ need to breathe.’ Not to mention all the rocks digging into her back.

All he did in reaction to her calling his attention to her plight, was turn onto his back, so that she was now prostrate on top of him. He didn’t let go of her, and kept his face buried against her neck. Thankfully, he wasn’t hyperventilating anymore. 

Clumsily, Darcy raised her hand and caressed his hair comfortingly. Apparently, this Asgardian prince had as many issues as his brother. If not more. But hey, at least she could breathe again, right?

‘Well, well, well, that looks _cosy_.’ 

The hoarse voice caused a shock to pass through Loki’s body, his muscles coiling in response, and before she knew it, he had sprung up, immediately vigilant, and Darcy had been put to her feet and pushed behind him as his magic started to dance across his fingers.

_Wow, talk about being battle ready at all times..._

Darcy peeked around Loki’s tall, broad form and spotted the crusty crone at the other side of the cave; the witch’s own brand of magic swirling wildly around her.

_Well... shit..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like this story, don't hesitate to leave me a note; I love to chat with my readers. :D
> 
> Kudos are also very much appreciated. The Muse likes her nomnoms. ;)
> 
> Have a fantastic rest of your week and a great weekend!
> 
> Cheers!  
> MessyInsomniacBookgirl


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fighting Hela... Or something...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooooo I'm back! 
> 
> An update of over 6.500 words!!!! Yay! 
> 
> Happy reading! :D
> 
> PS. I have to confess that this chapter is entirely unedited, and just thrown out there around midnight CET. Cause I wanted to post it.  
> So forgive any grammar and spelling mistakes; or any inconsistensies.  
> Thanks! 😋

**Chapter 7**

 

Freak Cave, somewhere in the Universe... Well, Hel, apparently.

 

‘You have managed to escape your chains. Well done, _brother,_ you are more resourceful than I had thought.’ Hela’s eye narrowed when she glared at Darcy contemptuously. ‘I see that _you_ are still alive.’

‘No need to sound so disappointed. I mean, it’s been only forty minutes since you were here.’ Darcy quipped.

Loki looked back at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

‘What?’ She raised her eyebrows at him.

Hela cackled at her confused question.

‘It has been more than _three days_ since you arrived.’ Loki spoke slowly, as if talking to someone with limited mental capabilities.

‘I would say that it has been almost a week.’ Hela concurred her brother’s claim and then doubled it for good measure.

‘Have you two completely lost your minds? It’s been less than thirty minutes since my “breakdown” ended.’ Darcy air quoted the word with her fingers.

‘You screamed and cried for almost two days! I thought that I was going to go mad from it.’ Loki sounded quite pissed off about it. ‘And it took you more than a day to free me from my shackles.’

‘Both events were, like, fifteen minutes, tops.’ She said exasperatedly. _These aliens are nuts... Unless..._ ‘Hm... Some kind of time perception distortion, maybe...’ Darcy mumbled to herself, intrigued by the concept. She looked around the cave. ‘Must have something to do with the way this realm functions as a sort of soul asylum shelter thingy... If each deceased spirit has its own distinct time-bubble that floats around it... Hmmm...’ Without realising it, she had moved from behind Loki, and had wandered off towards the exit of the cave. Suddenly the crusty crone stepped into her way, the mouldy tasting magic still whipping around her. Darcy recoiled from the nasty sensation and quickly retreated back to Loki’s side. She stuck out her tongue and rubbed it with the sleeve of her PJs, trying to dislodge the vomit inducing taste from her tastebuds. 

Being distracted by interesting scientific concepts in the realm of Hel... Not a good idea... _Oops. And yuck..._

‘Enough of this nonsense.’ Hela hissed, and turned her attention to Loki. ‘I am sure you understand that I will have to bind you to the rock again; permanently this time. And _you..._ ’ She addressed Darcy with a sneer. ‘You will keep him company until you die from energy depletion.’

Darcy realised that the witch had every intention of chaining her up right next to Loki.

‘Uh... No, thank you. I’d rather not.’

‘Oh, did you think you had a choice, mortal?’ Mocked the charred chick.

‘Enough!’ Loki burst out, and threw a ball of green flames at Hela, who just flicked her wrist and diverted it to the cave wall, where it fizzled out.

The wicked witch tutted mockingly at her brother.

‘Did you really think that you are stronger than me, here in this world of the dead? My power did not only have its roots in Asgard. I can also pull it from this realm.’ She raised her good hand and a greyish green bolt of light shot out, straight into Loki’s chest.

He gasped in pain and stepped back with the power of the impact.

Darcy shuffled backwards at Hela’s show of power, and ended up behind Loki when he moved his body in front of hers, still panting from the hit he had taken. Another bolt followed the first one, and Loki had trouble deflecting it. He clearly hadn’t recovered as fast, or as well, from his long captivity as Darcy had hoped he would. 

_Shit... this is not good..._ Racking her brain, she tried to come up with some kind of strategy that could maybe help him, help them, escape from Hela’s clutches. 

_Shit shit shit._

Raising her hand to keep Loki upright when he stumbled back into her after being hit with a third bolt, her palm pressed against his leather covered spine. As he conjured another green flamed ball, Darcy suddenly felt how the energy flowed through his body; from his core to his hand; and then released when he threw it at the crone. She breathed in deeply when part of the energy somehow made contact with her fingers and became visible. It rippled outwards in greenish golden waves from where her hand touched Loki’s back. It reminded her of how the energy of her coding on the tablet table in the lab had rippled under her touch, just before the surge had hit.

‘ _What?_ ’ she whispered, completely taken aback, eyes wide in surprise, while she observed the energy flow. _How am I seeing this?! What the hell is going on?!_

As she stared at the weird occurrence, a sliver of movement, which she saw from the corner of her eye, caught her attention. Tilting her head downward, her gaze traveled towards the silver ripples that flowed outwards to the edges of the cave from where her bare feet touched the sand.

_What the fuck?!_

Her gaze ping-ponged between her hand and her feet. Then Loki stumbled after once again deflecting Hela’s magic, and Darcy peeked around him. Her breathing sped up to a stressed panting when she witnessed how Hela was surrounded by high-pitched screaming souls which were being sucked into Hela’s body while she conjured a new bolt. What Darcy had thought to be the sound of the the energy whirlwind that whipped around the witch, had actually been the death cries of ghosts. The maelstrom kept sucking in... _ghost-energy?_ from the surrounding air. 

_Wait... she isn’t physically pulling her energy from this world? It comes from the ghosts?_ Darcy’s gaze traveled down the crone’s body, to her feet, and saw how the silvery energy ripples avoided her, as if she had the plague. The space underneath her was an inky black. So deep and dark, that it looked like a black hole. When Hela moved to step forward to advance on Loki, the darkness moved with her. 

_She’s not a goddess anymore..._ The realisation hit Darcy like a tonne of bricks.

_Maybe she was, once, when she was connected to Asgard, but now she’s a parasite, leeching her energy off of the spirits of the deceased._

Another bolt hit Loki in the shoulder, and he groaned in pain as he heavily leaned backward into her supporting hand. Darcy’s gaze flew up to where she touched him, and she saw how the once bright ripples of his magic had dimmed considerably. The crone’s attack and Loki’s subsequent defensive and offensive measures were depleting his limited energy, fast. Even the ‘lightbulb’ that hovered just underneath the ceiling of the cave was starting to lose its brightness as Loki weakened.

Sweat beaded on Darcy’s forehead and upper lip as she felt panic bubble up in her throat. If Loki couldn’t defeat the witch, or even keep her at a distance, then they’d both be toast. In more ways than one. 

_Fuck... Think!... Think think think..._

Loki’s energy increasingly depleted, and he needed a replacement for the energy that had been drained from him by the cave and by the fight.

Darcy’s gaze wandered down to the silvery energy that flowed so freely from under her feet and then her attention went back to her hand on Loki’s back, where the ripples of his magic had all but disappeared. He swayed on his feet, and leaned more heavily onto her. She put her other hand on his back, too, just so she could help him stay upright. Around them, the cave had darkened substantially, and when she looked up, the orb was but a prick of light, spluttering every now and then when Loki deflected a bolt of energy.

Her mind flew through several different possible solutions at light speed. She needed something like a conductor. But where in this godforsaken place could she find one? And how the hell was she going to attach it? It wasn’t like she was going to be jumpstarting a car with another car, where you only had to attach the positive and negative clamps of the jumper cables to the respective car batteries. 

_And how the hell do you jumpstart magic?!_

She frowned at the sudden practical question that sprung to the front of her mind. 

_Probably through other magic..._

_Maybe?_

_You can already_ ** _see_** _the energy of this realm. Try to_ ** _feel_** _it, too._ Her mind whispered to her. Loki had said that she had an affinity for feeling out magic - _energy!-_ ; that it was how she’d broken through his shackles so easily. 

Her mind rebelled against calling what she saw as energy, magic. It went against everything she’d learnt during her studies and her time with Jane. Science the shit out of everything weird and inexplicable you encounter, come up with theories to explain what you were seeing, and build on that; _that_ was what she knew. But, she also had to admit that the way she had, apparently instinctively, wielded an energy that science _couldn’t_ explain -yet- to further her, and Jane’s, scientific research, wasn’t easily put into a distinct, rational little hypothesis. 

Maybe, magic was a sort of energy that came from within a being -or a realm-, wielded with purpose by those gifted enough to be able to actually manipulate it. It was the most perfunctory definition she’d ever come up with, but it was the best she could do under the circumstances.

_Okay... So... I need to feel the energy... The... uh... magic... Probably... Yeah... Uh... Shit, this new age mumbo jumbo is so not me..._

_Feel the energy... Right._ _Okay... Feeeeeeeling the energy..._

Keeping both her hands on Loki’s back, she firmly planted her feet at shoulder width onto the cave floor, digging in her toes by curling them into the sand. Closing her eyes, she focused on finding what felt different; what stood apart from how she usually felt. 

It took her a few moments, breathing studiously in and out, trying to find a quiet place inside her mind. Which was quite a bit harder than it sounded, with bolts of energy flying past her, left and right, and Loki’s and Hela’s inclination to snarl, and hurl insults at each other while they fought.

_Quiet place... Quiet place... Calm down... Quiet... place..._

_..._

 

_..._

 

_There..._

The awareness of light vibrations against the soles of her feet came first. Then, a metallic-and-moss taste mixed together with the now fainter burnt-sugar-and-cinnamon flavour on Darcy’s tongue. Thankfully, the combined flavours tasted way better than the gritty mould of Hela’s magic, and she didn’t experience the need to vomit.

_Hah! Got it!_ Triumph bloomed in her chest when she was able to locate an energy that flowed like cool water underneath her feet, before the elated feeling quickly extinguished again when she realised that she had no idea what to do next. 

_Now what?!_

She needed to transfer the energy to the magic wielder who grew weaker with every second that ticked by. But how?

_What a way to learn about this shit... No training wheels for me... Ugh._ Feeling annoyed by her own lack of knowledge on the foreign subject of alien magical energy, she grumbled and expletive under her breath.

How to suddenly believe that you could do something with magic, that you could wield it, when you had vehemently denied having it, to yourself, and to the world, up until that moment? When it was something which you hadn’t known you could do, because it had been so low-key - _heh-_ and subtle that you had just thought you were good at tech stuff; that tech and you understood each other on a deeper level.

Believing in something which had been shoved onto you not two hours before because an arrogant trickster god was up shit creek sans a paddle, turned out to be harder that she’d thought.

_Okay... Relax... Feel the energy... You are the jumper cable. Now, conduct._

Scrunching her eyes closed, she braced herself, focusing on pushing energy from the ground through herself, and to Loki.

_..._

 

_Hngh_

 

_..._

 

_..._

 

Opening one eye, she observed her hands. Loki’s magic looked fainter than ever.

_Nope... Not working..._

_Shit..._

As if in slowmotion she saw how a powerful energy bolt struck Loki on his side. The impact made his body tilt sideways, and he went down, hitting the ground with a dull thud. Gasping for air, he clutched his ribs on his left side, while his eyes unseeingly flitted to and fro. His complexion had turned a mottled grey.

‘Loki!’ Her worried cry caught his focus and his gaze met hers. Desperation shone from his green eyes in a rare moment of vulnerability. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out because he shallowly tried to gulp oxygen into his damaged lungs.

Hela cackled in triumph, and Darcy turned her attention to the crone in the same moment she threw another energy bolt.

Crying out in fright, Darcy threw up her arms while she leaned over Loki’s curled up body, cringing away from the inevitable pain she’d feel from the bolt; if she even survived such an impact.

The impact never came. Instead, she and Loki were showered in glittering, rose golden sparks, originating from where the bolt had exploded above them.

Wide eyed, Darcy looked up at the slowly vanishing sparkles.

‘What?’ The whisper left her lips at the same time her gaze traveled down and met Loki’s eyes. _Did he just?..._

Loki minutely shook his head, indicating it hadn’t been him, deflecting the bolt. Or, maybe obliterating it would be the more accurate description. He pointed a shaking finger at Darcy; still not able to mutter a word between gasps.

_What? That wasn’t me, deflecting the bolt._

The thought shot through her brain before she realised that if it hadn’t been Loki, and if there hadn’t been anyone else present in the cave, but them, and Hela, then the simplest explanation would be that I had to have been her. 

_Was that really me?!_

Looking down at the palms of her hands, she noticed how the veins under her skin glowed faintly with the same rose gold energy as she had seen on the tablet table in the lab, and not ten seconds before, in the sparks.

_Loki is right... I... What the fuck is happening to me?!_

Her right wrist started to burn hotly, almost painfully, even, and she hastily pulled up the sleeve of her PJ top, afraid that something was wrong. There, nestled in between the roots of the pale golden Yggdrasil, glowed the strange pinkish golden orb with an almost blinding intensity.

A large, shaking hand grabbed her wrist, and her arm was pulled towards Loki’s face; his eyes widening in surprise when his gaze fell upon the golden sigil that adorned her skin.

‘ _As... Asgard?_ ’ His thumb caressed her wrist, and a tingling vibration traveled up Darcy’s arm. A shiver involuntarily traveled down her spine when she could suddenly feel how the energy zinged through her body. She felt it shift in her veins when it instinctively gravitated towards where Loki had accidentally touched the small Yggdrasil orb. 

‘Uh, yeah... Long story.’ A movement at the far side of the cave alerted her to a rapidly approaching Hela; who probably thought it would be easy to overpower them and bind them to the soul-sucking rock now that Loki was down for the count; which Darcy reckoned would be correct. ‘And not the time to tell it... What do I do?!’ Panic started to bubble up from her gut. With Loki incapacitated it would be impossible to keep Hela at bay.

Pressing his thumb more firmly against the orb, he whispered two words before his eyes rolled back into his head, and he lost consciousness.

‘ _Your magic._ ’ 

‘Magic?!’ She hissed at his still form in the rapidly darkening cave; the light orb extinguishing now that Loki wasn’t awake to power it anymore. ‘How the hell is that going to help me when I don’t know what to do, you fucking blue psycho popsicle?!’ Shaking his heavy body, she tried to wake him, to no avail. She slapped his cheek in a bid to snap him out of his fainting fit, but the only thing she got from that was a very painful hand. 

Ow... _Fuuuuuuuuuck... Should have known that wouldn’t work... He’s got the same bone density as Thor, and those cheekbones are like freaking razors... dammit. Ow ow ow..._ She shook her hand to alleviate the pain.

‘I have to admit, for a weak, little Midgardian, you do have spirit.’ The crispy chick crooned when she stepped up to Loki’s unconscious body and lit a light orb of her own; the ghosts around her screaming as she pulled her energy from them.

Darcy cringed at hearing the high-pitched agony.

‘Can you please not do that? It’s horrible.’ From where she was sat next to Loki, she weakly waved in the direction where the ghosts flailed around Hela’s form as if they were pulled in by a magnet, unable to escape the gravity of the witch.

An eyebrow raised in surprise before a frown took over the fleshy part of Hela’s face as she tilted her head in confusion. She was so close that Darcy could hear the burnt tendons and bones in her neck snap and crackle from the movement.

‘You can hear them... see them?’ The crone asked with her raspy voice. ‘How?’

‘Fuck if I know.’ Darcy shrugged as nonchalantly and innocently as she could, wrecking her brain for a solution to the frightfully dangerous situation she found herself in. 

_What am I going to do?! Shit shit shit shit shit..._

‘You’re a Midgardian soothsayer, hmm? Seeing all the little ghosties?’ When Darcy only glared at her defiantly, a triumphant grin appeared on the crone’s face. ‘If so, then it will not do you any good. You are no match for _my_ powers, and you will join the dead soon enough.’ The smug tone did not sit well with Darcy, but she didn’t get the chance to get in a witty reply, because the crone leaned forward and grabbed a still unconscious Loki by the hair; clearly intending to drag him back to where the shackles lay open against the wall of the cave.

Before she could think on it, Darcy’s hand shot out and she grabbed the crone firmly by the burnt wrist; the bones rubbing together and making a cracking noise under her fingers.

‘Hey! Let him go!’ 

The overpowering taste of mould washed through her mouth, and she gagged as tears of disgust sprung to her eyes. _Yuck._ When she’d grabbed Hela earlier, her hand had been removed so quickly from the crone’s good arm, that she hadn’t had the chance to become closely acquainted with the monster’s magic, but now... It was overwhelming in its intensity. A dizzy spell almost made her lose focus. Blinking away the tears, she breathed in and out deeply to try and push away the nausea.

Hela’s good hand painfully tightly wrapped itself around Darcy’s wrist, eliciting a pained groan from the young woman. The crone intended to force her to let go of the crispy arm, when she suddenly let out a loud scream of agony. 

To her surprise, Darcy felt how, this time, the energy that coursed though her didn’t flow towards Hela’s foul magic, like it had been with Loki’s burnt-sugar-and-cinnamon magic, but violently pushed outwards like a sort of tsunami wave, severely blistering the witch’s hand, causing Hela to retreat hastily, and making Darcy’s skin feel all weird and tingly, like that pins and needles feeling one gets when an arm or leg falls asleep. It wasn’t that it felt painful, it just felt foreign.

On Darcy’s wrist, Hela’s handprint glowed in that same rose gold light that had illuminated her veins earlier.

_Huh... Monster repellent skin..._ The thought flitted through her head as she watched how the light slowly extinguished and her skin went back to its normal, pale state.

Quickly glancing at a shocked Hela, who was staring in disbelief at her blistered hand, and then back to where her own hand still gripped onto the crispy bones of Hela’s wrist, she wondered about the power she’d felt coursing through her body when it had instinctively pushed it outwards. 

_That uncontrolled flare of energy came from me. It defended me. I could feel how it lashed out and then retreated again... And if I did that on instinct, then I should be able to direct it, consciously... Shouldn’t I?_ Her analytic mind started to categorise possibilities before she had even finished the thought.

‘How did you do this?!’ Darcy’s attention was pulled to Hela again, when the crone spoke. ‘You are _human_! A weak mortal! You shouldn’t have been able to touch me like that!’ Waving her wounded hand in front of Darcy’s face, she sounded terribly pissed off.

_Shit._

Maybe she could bluff her way through it... Hopefully.

‘I have to warn you that _have_ been underestimated before. And most of those people didn’t live to tell the tale. As you have seen, I’m not completely harmless. Soooo, you could just give up and let us go. Then I’ll let all of this go. And you’ll get off unscathed... well... mostly unscathed.’ She gestured at the crone. ‘No harm done...’ 

Hela’s one nostril flared from rage, and her one eye started to glow dangerously. Power crackled in the air.

‘That’s a _no_ then?’ Darcy had the audacity to ask.

‘You _impertinent_ , aggravating little _girl_! I will _crush_ you! And when I’m _done_ with _him_ ,’ Hela shook Loki roughly where she still held him by the hair, causing Darcy’s arm to move with her. ‘I will make sure he suffers tremendously before I end him. And then, when I am free of this realm, I will go to Midgard, and, one by one, I will find your loved ones, and torture them to death. Their screams will echo into eternity, until they reach you in the underworld, causing you immeasurable agony in knowing that you cannot do anything to help them!’

So... No bluffing her way through it. That was clear. From the maniacal gleam in Hela’s eye, Darcy could see that the crone meant it. She would go after Darcy’s friends the first chance she got. And Thor would probably be the first to suffer from her vengeance, as the crispy chick still had a bone to pick with her half-brother.

Hela conjured a greyish flame in her wounded hand while the ghosts screeched and shrieked.

‘Die, you wurm!’

The hand with the flame was pressed into Darcy’s face before she could even move a muscle to defend herself. The last thing she saw before her vision became obscured by the witch’s magic, was the cruel and sickeningly joyful expression on the monster’s face.

Just when Darcy though that she was done for, and weakly cringed away from the crone’s hand -too little, too late-, the energy inside her flared up again, countering the flames only milliseconds before they touched her face. A violent explosion of rose gold sparks erupted where Hela’s magic met the energy that burst from Darcy; illuminating the cave in a pink light.

And that’s when she felt it. The heat of the power that bloomed inside her core, lying just behind her solar plexus. It pulsed, almost like a second heartbeat; sending out ripples of energy through her body until they reached the tips of her fingers and toes. In the same moment she became aware of the power pulsing against the soles of her bare feet, bouncing against the energy that flowed through her body like the small waves of a lake would roll against one’s feet when stepping into the shallows on a summers day, and that was when she realised that she had stood up, in spite of the crone who was fighting to keep her on her knees.

Both her hands shot out, and she latched them onto the witch’s good arm, straining to push the hand with the flames away from her face. 

Hela looked stunned when Darcy, in spite of the witch being so much stronger than a human, forced her to step back and subsequently release Loki from her death grip. The Asgardian prince flopped down onto the ground, and Darcy flinched when she heard his head thump against a rock. _Ow..._

‘ _How_?’ The crone breathed, a sliver of fear trickling into her tone at Darcy’s display of power.

Darcy shifted her focus back from Loki to Hela. _Better not get distracted now..._

‘I have _no_ idea-’ 

_Oh... shit..._

Apparently, the small distraction was all Hela had needed. The witch was not defeated yet, it seemed, because she doubled her efforts to cause severe bodily harm by using her crispy hand to grab Darcy by the throat and cut off her air. For good measure, she pushed her foul magic through her arm and into Darcy’s skin before her power had the chance to counter it, causing all the oxygen to leave Darcy’s lungs in a whoosh and make her see black spots. Desperately, she gasped for air, but no matter how hard she fought to get that sweet, sweet oxygen back into her lungs, she just couldn’t.

The heartbeat she felt like a pounding in her head now that her oxygen was cut off, started to match the languidly pulsing beat of power behind her breast bone, until there was only one slow, steady beat. Her bare feet slid through the sand on the cave floor when Hela pulled Darcy towards her monstrous face.

‘In which reality would you ever have beaten me, you weak, pathetic creature?!’ The crone mocked.

Just before she lost consciousness, a new awareness of her body and mind blossomed in the twilight between wakefulness and subconscious. 

_Everything is connected... the power flows inside, and out..._ She only had to accept it, and it would be hers. She had to accept what she had always denied; how the power ebbed and flowed within her; how it had been hers from the beginning, to wield as she wished.

Fighting to stay awake, Darcy closed her eyes to block out the sinister visage of the witch who held her captive.

‘That’s it, just stop fighting and die.’ Hela crooned when Darcy’s eyes fell closed and she relaxed in the crone’s grip. ‘You mortals are so good at laying down and dying.’

Concentrating on what went on inside her, and trying to ignore how the lack of oxygen made everything hurt and seem far away at the same time, Darcy slowly became aware of a power that differed immensely from her own, but wasn’t malicious or invasive. It just... existed. The silvery ripples she’d seen earlier came to her mind; the energy that belonged to this realm. Which tasted like moss and metal.

It started to pulse up through the soles of her feet when she allowed it to; this time it came almost naturally to her, as she operated more on instinct than rationale, because of the oxygen deprivation. The energy that had first only gently lapped against her skin, now flowed up and mixed with her own into a maelstrom of luminous gold and pink which slowly seeped out through her pores.

Darcy’s eyes snapped open, the pupils glowing. The power within her became too much to hold in, and leaked from her skin; the air around her started to crackle with one of a kind electrical sparks; her long, dark brown locks floating around her face in a nonexistent upward breeze, caused by static.

‘What?’ The crone croaked; her one eye widening in horror when Darcy grabbed the hand that was wrapped around her throat, effortlessly crushing it between her fingers, the energy surge that traveled though her hand and into the burnt limb splintered the witch’s arm into dust up to her shoulder.

An agonised shriek escaped Hela.

‘ _What **are** you?!_’ She screeched, stumbling backwards, and away from Darcy while she clutched her blistered hand over the crispy stump of her shoulder.

Darcy, who was standing slightly bent over, pulling big gulps of oxygen into her body, coughing while her eyes watered from relief, gave her a clumsy shrug.

‘Beats... me... But, I’m not... complaining right... now.’ A crooked smile flitted over her face as she observed how the power pulsed through her veins, making them glow pretty. She righted herself, and pulled her shoulders back, narrowing her glowing eyes at Hela. ‘Now, have... you had enough?’ The power made her feel giddy. As if she were tipsy. It wasn’t a nasty feeling, but a part of her mind whispered over and over that this wasn’t right. The part that relished the power shut the niggling doubt off easily, though.

An animalistic cry sounded from the crone just before she launched a counter attack; the spirits around her being pulled into her body with a dizzying speed, the volume of their cries reaching levels Darcy hadn’t heard before.

If she hadn’t thought the ‘goddess’ a monster before, seeing how Hela gorged on the innocent just to amplify her own power made Darcy realise that the crone had to be stopped. A righteous anger burned through her. These ghosts, they had been humanoids before, with lives, and loves, and they didn’t deserve this kind of suffering and destruction in whatever afterlife this was for them. 

Hela threw her entire arsenal of magic at Darcy, but Darcy somehow -she had absolutely no idea how she did it, just that it happened- easily shielded herself from it, advancing on the witch with a deliberate pace until she was able to grab her by the arm; Hela struggling to get away from the blistering energy that surged through Darcy and into her limb. 

‘Stop!’ The layered voice that came from her own throat when she ordered the crone to halt her destruction of the spirits startled Darcy.

_What the fuck?_

Shrieking for Darcy to let her go, Hela intensified her struggles and her magical bombardment on Darcy. 

‘No! You do _not_ get mercy where your victims received none from you, you _monster_!’ The mounting power and rage inside her reached its peak, and she pushed her right hand against Hela’s sternum while her left still held the crone by the arm.

After that, a maelstrom of energy erupted from her hands, lighting up the cave with the intensity of burning magnesium. The power that came from the realm forced its way up through her body, transforming into her own kind of energy on the way, and expelled itself through her palms and into the monster.

A long, agonising scream was torn from Hela’s throat before she started to burn up and disintegrate into ashes.

Within seconds, Darcy held a crumbling corpse in her hands, and seconds later, there was only dust left, which slowly floated to the floor and settled among the sand.

Darcy shook her hands in horror at what she’d done, the rage gone the minute she realised what the energy she wielded had caused.

Gasping, she stumbled backwards, feeling how the power inside her hadn’t shut off when she’d vanquished Hela. It kept building and swirling through her until it hurt. She couldn’t think, she couldn’t breathe. The heat burnt her up from the inside out. 

_I’m going to die._

The last realisation she had before she started to black out caused a simultaneous sense of relief, and loss.

_I don’t want to die._

A tear leaked from the corner of her eye and she gasped in desperation, fighting to stay awake.

Then, suddenly, a pair of cool, strong arms closed around her burning body; lifting her from the ground, and effectively breaking her connection to the realm’s untamed energy. Her head lolled to the side and then, when the person holding her adjusted their hold on her, to the back; the muscles in her neck unable to hold it up.

Being disconnected from the silvery energy didn’t end the swirling of fire inside her body, though. It had just stopped the mounting pressure.

With unseeing eyes, she stared up at the ceiling; unable to focus on anything but the agony that ricocheted through her.

Until a hand smacked her on the cheek. The sting made her blink and start breathing again.

When had she stopped breathing?

A pale face with sharp cheekbones and even sharper green eyes swam into her vision. The mouth with the thin lips moved, but she couldn’t hear what was said.

_What is Loki doing here?_

She blinked again, slowly regaining some semblance of control of her mind again. Of course Loki was there. How could she have forgotten that?

_Wait... Loki woke up?_

She strained to hear the words his lips were forming. At first it sounded like she was under water; the words warbled and strange sounding.

‘...arcy...’

_What?_

‘Darcy! Listen to me... need... ... ... ... touch... ... ... magic...’

_What?_

Focusing even more to hear what he said, Darcy groaned from the effort it took.

‘ _What?_ ’ She croaked.

‘I need you to touch me as you did with Hela. Transfer the surplus of magic to me.’

‘What?!... No! I... killed her.’ Her eyes widened in horror at what he demanded from her.

Slowly, she drifted away again; the waves of burning agony increasing. 

Another slap stung her cheek. The shock pulled her back to wakefulness. 

‘What the fuck, man?!’ She cried out, suddenly feeling majorly pissed off.

‘Ah, you’re back.’ The cool tone belied the worry she saw in Loki’s eyes.

_Since when is he worried about me?_

‘Since you are the only one who can get me out of this place.’ Her expression must have been a dumb one, because he smirked. ‘Yes, you said that out loud.’

‘Good to know that I still rank high on your “keep alive” list.’ She quipped in spite of her tenuous grip on her consciousness. Blinking away large black spots that obscured her vision, Darcy lifted her hand and slapped him in the face as hard as she could. ‘And stop hitting me in the face!’ 

His expression darkened with anger before he seemed to catch himself and sighed in annoyance.

‘Listen, you have to syphon off some of the magic that wreaks havoc inside you. You are human... mortal... Your body isn’t built to hold the gargantuan amount of power that has taken up residency inside you. It will burn you up... if you don’t get rid of it, it will kill you.’

Darcy groaned and wiggled in Loki’s embrace in a bid to relieve the pain.

‘Yeah, I can feel that. It fucking hurts like hell.’ She was doubtful that Loki would be able to withstand the barrage of violent energy any better than Hela had, but she didn’t want to die, either. And, hey, if he wanted to chance it, who was she to deny herself the chance to walk away alive from this nightmare? ‘Alright, let’s give it a try. What do I do?'

Loki took her right hand in his and placed it on his leather clad chest; pressing it to his sternum tightly.

‘Focus on pushing the energy out through your palm; like you did with Hela.’

Frowning, Darcy stared at the large hand that covered her small one. 

‘Concentrate!’

‘I am! It’s not working!’ She cried out; gasping when another wave of burning pain made her body go rigid.

‘You’re overthinking it. Just feel it. Feel the flow of power.’

‘How? It hurts like hell! I can’t-’ She choked when Loki’s hand shifted from being on top of her hand on his chest to closing around her throat; cutting off her oxygen, and her circulation where his fingers and thumb dug into her jugular arteries.

She started to struggle, both her hands clasping around his wrist as she fought to get his hand away from her neck. 

The veins on her arms began to glow again, and she felt how the unstable power inside her core shifted and started to flow towards her arms, and then her palms.

‘That’s it, Darcy. Fight me!’ Loki hissed, his eyes gleaming maniacally.

Feeling how the energy hotly seeped from her skin and into his, he knelt onto the cave floor and balanced her on his lap with an arm wrapped around her, while grabbing both her hands in the one that had been around her throat and forcing them against his sternum. 

Powerless to stop the eruption of energy, Darcy watched from between half closed eyelids how the rose gold light was pushed into Loki’s chest, first leaving him gasping from the battering force, and then tearing hoarse cries from his body. He convulsed violently, but never let go of her, keeping her cradled against his abdomen.

When he lowered his head to look at her, she saw how his eyes glowed a golden green, the power inside him transforming the energy she poured into him into his own. His face was distorted into a grimace of agony. He clenched his eyes shut when another wave of power washed through him.

No longer able to see a living being be in pain because of her now that she was feeling infinitely better, thanks to Loki’s sacrifice, Darcy tried to pull her hands away from his sternum.

Loki’s eyes snapped open, instantly focusing on hers.

‘No! Not yet!’ He pressed his hand over hers even tighter.

‘But, I feel better. And you’re in pain...’ She protested.

A bitter laugh escaped the Asgardian prince.

‘It’s nothing I haven’t been through before. And it’s significantly less than the worst pain I’ve ever had.’

Darcy shivered, remembering the agony she’d been in only moments before. It had been the worst pain she’d ever felt. And he’d gone through **worse**? _Holy shit._

Staring up at him with wide, horrified eyes, she felt how tears welled up, threatening to fall... on his behalf.

‘Don’t look at me like that!’ The irritated undercurrent in his voice and the dark scowl he threw her before he turned his head away, breaking eye contact, told her that her compassion definitely wasn’t welcome.

_Fine... Be that way. See if I care._ Darcy fought the childish urge to stick out her tongue at him before noticing a change in his grip on her.

Slowly, but surely, the avalanche of energy that had been transferring from her to him, diminished, and eventually shrunk to a small trickle, until it stopped completely.

A sigh of relief escaped her when Loki let go of her hands and sat back on his heels, breathing laboriously. The hand that had been holding hers reached back behind him and he leaned on it while he unfolded his long legs from underneath his butt and stretched them out in front, sitting down in a more relaxed position as the tremors that plagued his body in the wake of the energy assault slowly abated.

Hesitantly, his free arm woodenly folded itself around her like the other one had, holding her in a loose, awkward embrace in his lap.

Darcy mentally shrugged at the weird change in behaviour and leaned her head against his shoulder, suddenly feeling too exhausted to care. Apparently someone needed a cuddle. And she wasn’t sure which of the two of them it was.

She licked her dry, chapped lips and sighed quietly; the urge to ask the million dollar question won out from the fatigue.

‘So... Now what?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked, please let me know in a comment, or hit that Kudos button. I always like hearing from you peeps. 
> 
> Until next time! 
> 
> XOXO


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh, the banter...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooooooo!!! I'm back... AGAIN!!! With a 5500+ word update. Yay! :D
> 
> Two updates in one weekend! Whoooohoooo!!! :D
> 
> Happy reading!

**Chapter 8**

 

Hel, Freak Cave, Loki’s Lap (Very briefly. Like, nano seconds).

 

Loki shifted underneath her after her question, and a shimmer of greenish gold light traveled down Darcy’s body, leaving a slight tingling sensation on her skin, and transforming her PJs into some kind of pastel blue leather-like armour with rainbow coloured trimmings. Her feet were encased in sparkly, white leather, knee high boots before Loki unceremoniously pushed her off of his lap and stood up. Apparently, cuddle time had ended.

‘Hey!’ Her disgruntled exclamation was followed by a hurried scrambling to stand up, because the moment her bare hands made contact with the cave floor she could feel how the energy in the ground recognised hers and started the whole charging-to-overload schtick again -thankfully the boots seemed to block the energy from seeping in through the skin of her feet-. ‘Whoah... Nope...’ She jumped up, and, rubbing her hands on the leather pants she was now wearing, took in the style and colours of her outfit. _What the..._

_Is he freaking serious?! I look like an ice cream stand on glitter steroids!_

‘What the hell did you do to my clothes?!’

‘I gave you a more practical attire. Do you not like it?’ That tone was too innocent to be genuine. 

Darcy narrowed her eyes at Loki.

‘Dude, I look like I just stepped off of the top tier of a gay wedding cake.’ Observing how the leather of the jacket also sparkled as she moved her arms, she sighed a long suffering sigh. ‘I think I saw this kind of decoration on my friend’s cake when he got married to his boyfriend.’

‘It is in the style you were already wearing, is it not?’

Oooh, that smug little twitch of his lips just did it. _Asshole!_

‘You very well know that this isn’t how people from Earth walk around all the time, you psycho nitwit!’ She growled. ‘Those were my PJs... My sleep clothes.’ Clarifying the abbreviation after seeing Loki’s slightly confused expression, she continued, ‘I like to wear cute and silly pyjamas to bed. So sue me.’

Gesturing at their surroundings, she frowned. ‘I stick out like a sore thumb in this place, looking like some kind of giant freaking dessert. If I get eaten by something horrific out there, while it’s mistaking me for a piece of candy, don’t come crying to me that you missed your chance to escape only because you just _had_ to amuse yourself.’ Crossing her arms over her chest, she scowled up at the tall Asgardian prince. ‘Now, give me something I can work with. Something more camouflage-y.’

‘My, you _do_ have quite the titanic temper for such a diminutive creature...’ Loki apparently couldn’t help but provoke her even further. Although, in spite of his scathing and disapproving words, he waved a hand, and her outfit changed colour to a charcoal grey, with muted rose gold accents on the wrists and boots. He sardonically raised a brow. -the dude really knew how to convey his feelings through micro expressions- 

‘Better?’

Darcy flexed her arms, and stretched her body up onto her tippy toes, before bending over to touch her toes with the tips of her fingers. Then she straightened again and kicked up a leg, kicking her foot above her head -yay for three years of yoga classes!-, and checking how flexible the leather-like fabric actually was. Turned out it was very flexible. 

After assuming for years that the type of fabric Thor and Loki always wore was a though kind of leather, she now discovered that though it might have looked like it, it felt _nothing_ like the leather she knew from Earth. She knew it was some kind of armour, as she had seen from up close how it had protected Thor when he had fought the Destroyer, but against her skin it felt soft and comfy, and, more importantly, it breathed. No chance of sweaty armpits, or sweaty under-boobs, or sweaty cleavage, or any other sweaty body parts, when doing light exercise, or even light movements, like one most definitely did get with body encasing leather clothes. Sheesh, those were like fitted sauna suits. Don’t ask how she knew that... -okay, so she tried on Natasha’s mission suit once. That had been an experience never to repeat again... After becoming overly sweaty from jumping up and down to pull it up over her hips and then wriggling her torso and arms into it, she hadn’t even gotten it closed over her chest, and it had left Natasha, who had of course caught her in the act of ruining a perfectly good mission suit, almost peeing her pants from laughter. Especially when Darcy needed help getting out of it when her sweaty, curvy ass got stuck after the zipper didn’t want to budge any lower than bellybutton height.-

‘Infinitely better.’ She mumbled reluctantly in answer to Loki’s smug question; looking away from him while stretching her hands above her head as she folded them together and leaned back, hollowing and then bending her back until each and every muscle in her torso had been stretched. A soft groan of relief escaped her.

_Ugh, I’m gonna need a massage after this... And a good mattress to sleep on for, like, twelve hours or something... everything hurts._

After distractedly adjusting her boobs in the leather-like, long sleeved, high-necked bodice, so it didn’t squash them anywhere -it was surprisingly comfy, thankfully, so the sizeable ladies didn’t have a lot to complain about. Okay, maybe about the lack of support, but that could easily be mended the moment she located a bra-, she sighed tiredly and put her hands in the trouser pockets. 

_Yay! Pockets! Deep ones! Asgardian designers: all the points! - Earthian designers: zero points._

Loki quickly turned away from her with a strange expression on his face when she refocused her attention on him. If she hadn’t known any better, she would have said he looked pained, or constipated, or maybe angry; one of those anyway. Shrugging off the formerly blue popsicle’s ever weird behaviour, she set out to follow him as he stalked towards the exit of the cave; the orb of light he’d conjured after receiving her supercharged energy boost floating along above him, effortlessly keeping up with his long strides.

‘That’s so handy... You have to teach me how to do that.’ Darcy remarked casually as she caught up to him and the orb, and pulled a hand out of her pocket to point at it.

Loki looked back at her, a haughty expression on his face.

‘I have to do no such thing.’ He snapped before turning back to where the exit of the cave had been blocked by a large door, hewn from the same rock as the cave. He studied it with trepidation and seemed reluctant to touch it, and Darcy didn’t blame him. He’d been touching that soul-sucking surface for months as it leeched all his strength away from him. Hell, she had only touched it for a couple of seconds, feeling the drain start immediately, and even _she_ was loathe to touch it again.

_Wait a minute..._

‘Hey, why didn’t you just let me touch the rock to syphon away the overload of energy inside of me?’

A smug smirk appeared on his face when he looked at her, his eyes flashing with the green golden glow she’d witnessed earlier.

‘Now, that would have _truly_ been a waste.’ He raised his hands and blasted the door to smithereens with an expulsion of bright energy that hurt her eyes. ‘And then I would not have been able to free us from this tomb.’

Darcy blinked against the dark spots that had appeared in her vision after looking straight into the magical explosion.

‘Sheesh, warn a girl to look away, will ya?! That flippin’ hurt!’ She rubbed her eyes behind her glasses to alleviate the irritation; said glasses sliding down to the tip of her nose.

‘Why do you wear those gauche glass lenses on your nose? Do you not have healers on your world who can fix your eyesight?’ He really sounded flummoxed at the thought of having to wear glasses to be able to see clearly.

‘Actually, we do have those, but it costs a lot of money to get your eyes fixed, money which I don’t have. And even if I did, my eyesight is so bad they won’t be able to help me anyway. Too many abnormalities inside the eyeballs, and really wonky lenses, apparently. So, I’m condemned to eternal bad eyesight and gauche glass lenses worn on top of my nose, I’m afraid.’ Darcy shrugged resignedly.

Before she could do anything to stop him, Loki hissed something unintelligible and annoyed sounding under his breath and stepped into her personal space. He plucked her glasses from her nose, and threw them away over his shoulder. Darcy cringed when she heard the loud crack and tinkling of breaking glass when her glasses hit the rock face.

‘Hey, why did you do that, you assh-’

Her tirade was cut short when one big hand with long fingers covered her eyes and a large part of her face while the other tightly cradled the back of her head, keeping her immobile. She started to struggle immediately, pulling at the hand in front of her eyes, but Loki did not relent.

From behind her closed eyelids, she noticed the beginning of a glow, colouring her vision a dark red until it flared up and became almost blinding; a penetrating heat filling her eyeballs. It was just on this side of painful, and she let out a panicked squeak; her frantic clawing at his hand intensified.

‘Shhh... relax and keep still. I am not trying to hurt you.’ Loki’s voice had taken on a deep, melodic quality as he shushed her, his breath ghosting over the shell of her ear. His tone of voice was strangely hypnotic, but it didn’t reassure her at all. If anything, it made her heartbeat speed up and a shiver run down her spine. 

Why that was, was something she didn’t want to explore. Like... Ever. _Nope nope nope nope nope... NOT going there. Nope._

Then the light died away and a soothing coolness permeated the skin that covered her eyes. Before she knew it, Loki had stepped back, and she was blinking against the dim light in the cave; her vision and her brain adjusting to the fact that she didn’t need her glasses anymore.

With wide eyes, she turned to Loki, slapping him on the arm.

‘What the _fuck_ , man?! Why did you do that?!’ She hadn’t meant to sound so bitchy, or be abusive, but he’d scared her with his sudden unsolicited actions. She felt very on edge after all she’d just been through with Hela, and had reacted without thinking. She regretted her outburst almost immediately. Sadly, the damage had already been done.

Loki’s searching eyes turned cold and they narrowed dangerously. Darcy could see him shut down and pull up walls as thick, and high, and icy as the one in Game of Thrones. He stalked away from her with a huff, into the open air outside the cave, extinguishing the orb that followed him, with a stiff gesture.

_Shit..._

‘Loki...’ She ran to catch up with him; taking his elbow in her hand to stop him from walking away. ‘I’m sor-’

‘Do not bother.’ He hissed, whirling around and snarling at her as he yanked his arm out of her grip. ‘I have been offered enough false apologies and fraudulent promises to last me a lifetime. I do not need yours to add to them.’

‘But-’

‘No. You can rot here, for all I care. I will find my own way out of this realm. The magic I took from you made my magic more powerful than it has been in _years_ , and I will use that power to escape. I do not need you and your _pathetic_ assistance anymore.’ The cruelty and venom in his voice washed over her, and his unnecessarily vicious verbal attack left her almost speechless.

It was a good thing that she knew from experience that a child who had grown up in an abusive and neglectful household like Loki had, would be at their most poisonous when they felt slighted in some way or were hurt by someone’s actions or words, because she wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with it herself, having grown up alongside “problem kids” in sometimes not so healthy foster homes, otherwise she would have punched him in the nose for his heartless words. The realisation that he was only lashing out out of habit -hurt them before they can hurt you more-, didn’t soften the cutting edges of the words, though.

‘The magic... you _took_?’ The pained whisper passed her lips as she looked up at him with hurt in her eyes. ‘I _gave_ that to you, so your energy could be replenished. You were half dead after fighting Hela. You needed the boost more than you know. Your skin was turning grey from depletion. You were dying!’ She repeated her defence a bit louder than before, ‘You told me to give the energy to you, so I _did_.’ 

‘So you would not burn up!’ He spat back. ‘You only gave it to me, so you would not _die_ from the surplus of power that raged within your fragile little body! You did not even consider what it could cost me! How _selfish!_ ’ 

‘I did it because. _You. Asked. Me. To!_ You all but begged me to do it! You wouldn’t even let me stop when I wanted pull away after I saw how much it hurt you! You absolute jackass!’ As she became more agitated, the air around her started to feel more charged, and static energy crackled between her fingers when she threw up her hands in exasperation. ‘I would never even have risked it if I had been able to think clearly enough! I would have chosen _death_ if I had known there would be a chance of killing another person with that energy transfer!’ She grabbed his hand in hers and held it against the side of her face. ‘I don’t make false apologies... or fraudulent promises for that matter... And I’m not lying about rather having died than risking your life to save my own! You’re the god of lies, aren’t you? The living lie detector? See if I’m lying!’ Pressing his palm tightly to her face with her hand, her eyes flashed with anger and hurt.

Keeping her gaze on his, she felt how his palm warmed against her skin just before he visibly deflated when he found nothing but sincerity. Good, he understood his own foolishness then. Hopefully.

‘I’m very sorry for reacting like an asshole when you wanted to help me by fixing my eyes... You have to understand, though, that stepping up to a person and yanking off their glasses before grabbing their head and starting a heat and light show inside their eyeballs without asking if that would be okay with the person involved, or explaining the how and why of the procedure, will get you an unfavourable reaction each and every time.’ She kept her voice neutral and firm, trying to make him understand that a lot of people had boundaries that he shouldn’t cross without asking for their consent first. ‘You need to ask for permission before intervening with someone’s body in such an invasive way. Do you understand?’

While wondering how on _Earth_ it was possible that he still had to learn this at his age -he was _at_ _least_ a thousand years old, if not more-, she suddenly realised that he wasn’t _from_ Earth - _duh_ -. And she realised that he had been raised as royalty in a feudal-like society; which in and of itself would create a superiority complex within a person already. But, in addition, he’d also been raised by a stuck-up, asshole father who was an absolute ruler and as such didn’t have much respect, or thought, for the personal boundaries and wishes of his subjects -or his sons for that matter-, himself. At least, that’s what she’d surmised from Thor’s stories. No wonder both sons had so many issues to work through. Darcy wondered how their mother had managed to keep them as sane and compassionate -she was still up in the air about Loki on that subject, though- as she had.

A muscle ticked in Loki’s jaw as he observed her silently; his arctic gaze burning into hers. Seconds ticked by without any reaction from him. 

She wasn’t going to be the first one to give in, though.

Probably.

More seconds passed, filled with silence.

Maybe.

Then, when she was about to heave a defeated sigh and throw out a frustrated ‘You-know-what,-never-mind’, he inclined his head to her, and his expression became slightly less glacial.

It might have been a small gesture, but to Darcy it somehow felt like a huge victory.

A big smile broke on her face, turning her solemn expression into one of beaming happiness.

‘Great!’ Acting on a whim, she stood on her tippy toes and pecked him lightly on the jaw -which was as high as she could reach with her short stature-, causing him to startle and pull his head away defensively. Darcy ignored it and took a step backwards, out of his personal space. ‘Thanks for fixing my eyesight.’ 

A pair of baffled eyes searched her face for any kind of dishonesty or sarcasm. Not finding any, Loki eventually nodded tentatively.

‘You are welcome.’ His response could have been a bit less lukewarm and wooden, but she’d take it.

‘Great!’ She repeated, and set her hands on her hips. ‘Now, how about we put our brains to work and figure out how to get out of this dreary place?’ Darcy started to wander away from the cave and took in their immediate surroundings. 

_What a depressing environment to spend eternity in... It doesn’t really look like a Hell, though... Is the Hel with one ‘L’ different from the one with two?_

When she stopped walking and turned back to where she expected Loki to still be standing, to ask the question as it occurred to her, a large object promptly barrelled into her and threw her off balance. ‘Oh, oops.’ Stumbling backwards, she tripped over her own feet and went down, scraping her hands against the gravelly ground when she fell onto her butt and then rolled onto her back. The cause of her fall towered over her, a surprised expression gracing his face. Apparently, mr high-and-mighty had followed her like a shadow when she’d wandered away to inspect the “countryside” they’d found themselves in; without her noticing it. 

_Whoah, ya got some stealthy moves there, dude!_

‘Well, don’t just stand there...’ She groaned, and stuck out her hands to him. ‘Help me up, will ya?’

Taking her hands in his, he all but launched her up in the air when he pulled her up, and she let out an undignified squeak.

Before she knew it, she was back on her feet and Loki was inspecting the palms of her hands.

‘You are hurt.’

Her palms were indeed scraped, and bled in a few spots, but it wasn’t something that she hadn’t dealt with before. She’s always been clumsy, and having scraped skin didn’t even register on her accident radar anymore.

‘I’ll live.’ She tried to pull her hands out of his, but he wouldn’t budge.

‘Will you allow me to heal your hands?’

Darcy froze, and stared up at him.

_Wait... What? Did he really just..._

‘Uh...’ 

_Oh, very eloquent, Darce! Ugh..._

‘I should ask permission before healing someone, that _is_ what you said, is it not?’

_Is he fucking with me?!_

‘Hm... Fast learner, aren’t you?’ She raised an eyebrow at him and threw him a sceptical look.

The answering smirk he sent her was both mischievous and snooty.

‘I am known for my quick mind.’

‘I’ll bet you are.’ She threw him a smirk of her own. ‘Go ahead, then.’

After closing his hands around both of hers, she could feel a now familiar heat infusing itself into her palms, and a muted glow lit up Loki’s hands. Apparently, healing skin did not take as much energy as fixing one’s eyes.

‘You Midgardians are such fragile creatures. Look at how easily your skin tears.’

It didn’t sound as if he was intentionally trying to insult her and more like a disapproving reflection on her humanity. But it still didn’t sit right with her.

‘Yeah, well, we can’t all be the Hulk’s fly swatter and break the floor with our impact, now can we?’ She quipped with a wrinkled nose; referencing his encounter with Hulk at Stark Tower during the alien invasion a few years before.

Loki’s gaze flew to hers as he let go of her healed hands.

‘You know about that?’ He frowned, looking unamused.

‘Yup.’ She popped the ‘p’ and grinned up at him. ‘Hulk doesn’t like you very much... Puny god.’

Loki bristled at her imitation of a low voice when she said the last two words.

‘The feeling is entirely mutual... Though _Bruce_ and I got along better, not too long ago.’

‘Yeah, I heard about that. You met again on Scar, right?’ She couldn’t help but needle him a bit after his remark on how physically vulnerable she actually was. And secretly, she enjoyed bantering with him.

‘Sakaar. The planet is called Sakaar.’ 

The dude really made this too easy.

‘Yeah, that’s what I said, Skaar. And you crawled up the Devil’s Ass to escape from a guy called Grant Masters, who had his designs set on you.’ Darcy snickered when she saw how his face scrunched up at her intentional corruption of all the names and events.

He glanced at her sharply at her show of amusement, the corners of his mouth pulling down in a sneer.

‘Are you mocking me?’

Sighing, she laid the back of her hand against her forehead in a dramatic gesture; pretending to swoon. Within a fraction of a second Loki’s hands closed around her upper arms in a bid to keep her upright. It surprised her to no end that he had been so focused on her that his reaction to her very slight sway to the right had caused him to intervene with his lightning fast reflexes. Opting to ignore it for that instance and play out her part, she sighed again, dramatically.

‘This is terrible, I was trying to tease the god of mischief and lighten the mood, but alas, it turns out that his godliness has no sense of humour.’ Reaching up her hand, she tapped him lightly on the cheek three times. Immediately, he let go of her upper arms, and caught the wrist of the offending appendage in his hand, frowning down at her in confusion as he pulled her hand away from his face.

Darcy shook her head at him. 

‘Lighten up, Loki. For someone who knows how to dis it out, you certainly have a lot to learn on how to take a teasing on your own behalf with grace. Not everyone you meet is out to hurt or mock you, or better themselves through you or your downfall...’ 

She tilted her head and observed his baffled expression. 

‘Though, I wouldn’t mind if you could spare a few lessons on how to better myself using this weird energy that courses through my veins. But only on a voluntary basis of course.’

‘Magic.’ 

‘What?’

‘The energy inside you, it is magic.’

Darcy shrugged, and Loki let go of her wrist.

‘Whatever. I happen to think that what you call magic, is actually a primordial, but measurable energy that has bound itself to the cells of the people with a specific mutation in their DNA that makes them suited enough to wield it without having to resort to technology to manipulate it. Those cells are like magnets for that power, and the cells of some people are stronger magnets than the cells of other people, which explains the varying degrees of power within “magic” users. Mind you, I’m still fine-tuning and rewording the theory every couple of minutes as I learn, so it isn’t completely all-encompassing, yet.’

‘There is only one flaw in your speculation.’

‘Which is?’

‘Me.’

‘You?’

‘Yes.’

‘And _how_ are _you_ a flaw?’ Wait, that didn’t come out right.

The corners of Loki’s mouth twitched up slightly into a smug little smile.

‘Why, Lady Darcy, a compliment from your lips is the last thing I expected.’ He purred.

_Fudge... Walked right into that one..._

‘Oh, shut up, and answer the question.’ Darcy grumbled.

‘I was not born into my magic. My moth... Frigga gifted me with it when I was a child.’

She stared at him with raised eyebrows.

‘Really?’

Loki nodded.

‘Yes, when I was little, I was not as strong as my brother, and not as boisterous. To help me feel not as inadequate as I did, Frigga parted with a large portion of her magic and instilled it in me through an ancient ritual. It grew with me as I matured, and I became the most powerful sorcerer Asgard had ever seen within its realm.’

Putting her hands on her hips, she frowned up at him.

‘Huh... Well, that blows my whole theory out of the water.’

‘I would say that it does.’

‘Most powerful sorcerer in Asgard, eh?’ She smirked at him.

‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that, in Asgard, the pursuit of magic is seen as a purely feminine pastime, and is never practiced by males. Which made me by default the _only_ sorcerer in Asgard.’ His eyes twinkled mischievously.

‘Did you just make a self deprecating joke?’

‘As you can see, my sense of humour is still intact, and I am able to carry a jest at my own expense.’

‘Apparently so... _And_ you’ve read Austen?’ Her voice couldn’t have sounded more incredulous. He didn’t exactly present as someone who would read and enjoy nineteenth century romance.

‘I have read a great many books in my life.’

‘Yeah, but _Austen_?’

‘I liked how the male love-interest was portrayed.’ He shrugged nonchalantly.

‘Hm... Tall, dark, brooding, and misunderstood... And a blue-blood snob to boot.’ She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Yeah, I can see it now... Right up your alley.’ Shaking her head at his raised eyebrow, she continued, ‘As much as I enjoy this little get-to-know-one-another banter we’ve got going on here, I’m _so_ ready to get out of this shit hole for good... So, do you have any suggestions on how we should proceed?’

‘I would suggest that we investigate _that_.’ Loki pointed at a faint green glow that shone from just over the top of the hill they were stood upon. ‘With the amount of magic Hela stole from me in that cave, I would not be surprised if she had conjured something to store the power until she had enough of it to use it for the purpose she had in mind for it. Which was escaping this realm.’

‘And that’s what we want, too. Good one.’ Darcy nodded in approval and gestured for him to lead the way.

Hurrying after him when he set off with long strides, she only caught up to him when he halted at something that looked like an oversized stone coffin.

‘Well, that’s a bit macabre... And _totally_ appropriate, ‘cause this _is_ the realm of the dead, and all...’ she panted, leaning her hands on her knees while she tried to catch her breath. 

Looking up at Loki, she saw how the thing that emanated the green glow was being blocked by his body. It was something he was silently looking down at; his whole posture rigid.

Curious, she walked up to him and peered around his side.

‘Hey! That’s Mew Mew!’ Now stepping out completely from behind Loki’s back, Darcy approached the hammer where it sat on a raised piece of rock, with a surprised expression on her face. ‘I though she had been destroyed?’

‘It was.’ Loki pointed at the glowing cracks that zigzagged visibly over the surface of the weapon. ‘Hela somehow tracked down all the pieces and put it together again.’

‘But... how was she able to lift and move Mew Mew? She wasn’t _worthy_ , was she?’ The thought filled Darcy with repulsion.

‘I think when _Mjölnir_ was in pieces, Hela was able to move those, because the magic wasn’t intact.’

‘Ah...’ Darcy contemplated the reasonable sounding theory. ‘And when she had Mew Mew where she needed her, she put her back together, so Mew Mew could work as a conduit and a battery.’

‘ _Mjölnir..._ And, yes.’

‘That’s what I said, Mew Mew.’

‘No, it is Mjölnir.’

‘Mew-’

‘ _Mjöl-nir_.’

‘Myueh Nyeuh?’ 

Loki visibly cringed at her butchering of his language.

‘You know what? Never mind. Call it what you like.’

‘She.’

‘What?’

‘Mew Mew is a she. And I call her Mew Mew ‘cause she likes it more than Mjölnir.’

An annoyed huff escaped Loki when he threw up his hands in exasperation and rolled his eyes.

‘And _now_ she pronounces the name without _any_ trouble. _Of_ ** _course_** _she does._ ’

A snicker escaped her and she clapped a hand over her mouth to smother it. Loki threw her a dark look, and she held up her hands in a placating gesture.

‘I’m sorry, I just can’t seem to help myself around you. You’re such an easy person to rile up.’ Her eyes crinkled with suppressed mirth as she mischievously smiled up at him. ‘Maybe you should be called the god of grump, and leave the mischief to some-’

With a lightning fast move, Loki took her head between his hands and leaned towards her, his gaze burning into hers.

‘You are playing with fire, mortal.’ He hissed.

‘I am?’ She asked; her eyes round with surprise. How had he moved that fast? She hadn’t even seen him coming. 

‘You are.’ 

‘Why? Can’t you handle a lowly little mortal?’ Even as she threw him a challenging grin, she couldn’t believe the attitude she gave him. It was bigger than her, and somehow she just couldn’t stop it.

‘Oh, I can handle you just fine. But I am afraid you could not handle _me_.’ The timbre of his voice deepened as he spoke, and he stepped into her space, towering over her.

_Oh..._

_Uh..._

Loki’s eyes glittered dangerously as she searched them for a clue of what he meant with that loaded statement. Then she noticed a tiny twitch at one of the corners of his mouth.

_Ohhh... So that’s what this is all about, huh? Trying to intimidate and out-bluff me?_

_Well, we’ll just see about that._

‘Try me.’ While she attempted to stare him down, she could see how his dark pupils widened at her defiance. In spite of his intimidating height and behaviour, she refused to give even an inch, and, apparently, that was something he hadn’t anticipated, because she saw how he faltered for a fraction of a second. 

_Ha! Gotcha!_

Then, the uncertainty was gone and he scowled at her; his answer gravelly and hardly audible.

‘You infuriating wench.’ 

He pushed her away from him and she stumbled back; a bit miffed at his sudden, rough treatment.

‘Stop underestimating me, Mischief.’ She shot back. ‘And stop trying to intimidate me. It won’t work.’

He didn’t answer her, and stalked away; his shoulders tense. 

She watched him go, and shrugged. He’d be back. Mew Mew was their biggest chance at getting out of Hel. 

_Let him cool off for a bit._

Turning back to the weapon on the rock, she sighed.

‘Poor Mew Mew, what has that crispy bitch done to you?’ Taking in how the hammer seemed to be encased inside some kind of forcefield, Darcy bent over, and studied the rock it stood on. Even without touching it, she felt how the forcefield and the underlying rock were permeated with Hela’s magic. ‘Hm... Another one of those little puzzles.’ Her hands touched the rock, and sought out the inconsistencies in the energy that ran through it. 

This forcefield puzzle was a bit more intricate than the others had been, but it took her less than five minutes to disable it.

The moment the forcefield fell, a shudder went through Mew Mew, and then a kind of zinging noise was heard, and all the cracks that had marred the weapon disappeared as it apparently mended itself back together. Darcy raised an eyebrow at that.

‘Huh... So, she was keeping you broken, was she? Well, that’s no wonder, because if you had been whole, you’d never have worked with her, would you, honey?’ 

Standing up straight, Darcy laid a hand on Mew Mew’s handle, gently closing her fingers around the grip.

‘Now, let’s see if you know how to get us out of here.’

‘Trying to test your own worthiness, I see?’ came Loki’s mocking voice from behind her.

_Ah, he’s cooled off... Mostly..._

Turning around with her hand still closed around Mew Mew’s handle, she took in the smug amusement on his face.

‘Don’t bother. The thing has never moved for anyone but Thor. Or Odin, on occasion.’ He sounded quite nettled about that. ‘No-one else in over a thousand years has ever been deemed worthy, apparently.’

Not saying anything, Darcy narrowed her eyes at him.

And easily lifted Mew Mew from her rocky prison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... that happened... O.o
> 
> When you liked, please let me know through leaving me a note/keyboard-slam/unintelligible rant. Or feed the Muse some Kudos. :D
> 
> Thank you! <3


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escaping Hel... Eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I'm on a roll it seems! Another update! That's 3 in one week... Whoah.
> 
> Happy reading, everyone! 
> 
> XO
> 
> Ps. Here be a bit of smut-ish stuff... Only a bit, though... As in, not that much. ;P Mwahahahahaha

**Chapter 9**

 

Still in Hel, Still stuck, Still annoying Loki.

 

 

Keeping her eyes on Loki’s face when she lifted Mew Mew and casually rested the handle on her shoulder, gave her a front row seat to witnessing how Loki’s mocking amusement transformed into an expression of surprise, and then denial, until it eventually settled on shocked disbelief.

The sorcerer closed the gap between them with three long strides, stepping into her space.

_Aaaand there he is again. With the towering, and the intimidation..._

‘ _How_ did you do that?!’ The question sounded more like an accusation than anything else.

Next to her ear, Mew Mew hummed almost inaudibly, and Darcy chuckled.

‘Yeah, you’ve got that right, hon.’

‘That’s _not_ an answer to my question!’ Loki growled. ‘And _why_ are you laughing?’

Turning her attention to him, she tutted.

‘Come on, Loki, we’ve already established that intimidation tactics don’t really work on me. Unless you’ve got another Destroyer up your sleeve; count me scared and intimidated then.’ She snorted at his exasperated expression. ‘No? Okay then. First off, I wasn’t talking to you. Second, me and Mew Mew go way back. All the way to London, and evil space elves... Well, it was a bit after that, actually. Because, during the space elf incident, she was busy flying up and down London and through space portals, and space, and Swarthyelfhyves. And then Thor was on Asgard to talk to his dad. But that eventually turned out to have been you, so...’

Loki let out a long-suffering sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.

‘Svartalfheim, it is called Svartalfheim...’ When he saw her twinkling eyes, he mumbled something under his breath that Darcy didn’t catch. Then he shook his head, and seemed to calm down a bit. ‘Is there a _point_ to your story?’

‘Oh... Uh, yeah... So, Thor lived with us for a while, after coming back from Asgard, and maaaaannnn, is he a _slob_! While he and Jane were boinking all over the apartment, I was left with clean up, you know, like dishes, and washing and picking up empty take out boxes and stuff. I’d broken up with Ian by that time, so it’s not like me and him could do a counter boink or anything...’

‘Counter... Boink?’

‘Yeah, you know, like, sex? I mean, the way Thor and Jane were at it at all hours of the day, sheesh; sometimes I still have flashbacks of walking in on them in the kitchen after I went grocery shopping. Thor does have a great ass and all, but I definitely didn’t need to see his swinging ba-’

Loki clapped a hand over her mouth and tensely shook his head, his wide-eyed expression a mix of shock and disgust, and a decisive ‘ _No!_ ’ falling from his lips. She knew exactly how he felt; if only she could get that traumatising view off of her retinas. Mumbling a muffled ‘sorry’ against his palm, she looked up at him apologetically. 

When Loki pulled away his hand after reassuring himself she wouldn’t go down that line of conversation again, she continued.

‘But I digress. So, turns out Thor is not only a slob with clothes and dishes and the lot, but also with Mew Mew. And way in the beginning of our cohabitation I was writing my dissertation for my master’s degree in Political Science, and I was pushing up against a deadline and really needed to get some writing in. I come into the living room and what do I see? Mew Mew! On top of my laptop! Of course Thor and Jane were in their bedroom being... _You know_... And I did _not_ want to knock on _that_ door. No way! So, I go up to Mew Mew, and sit down at the dining table; that’s where my laptop was, you see; underneath Mew Mew. Then, after thinking long and hard on how on Earth I’m going to make her move, I conclude that, while I may not be strong enough to lift her, I’m good at talking people into things; and _maybe_ I can talk Mew Mew into moving. So, I start telling her this story, about how I really need to get into my laptop, that it is a matter of life and death, and how her neglectful “dad” had left her on top of it, so I couldn’t access it, and as one girl living and working in a world of men to another, I asked her if she would please allow me to move her a couple of inches, so that I could slay my dissertation and show the arrogant men how awesome women are. And then I picked her up.’

‘You... picked her up... Just like that?’ Loki’s incredulous gaze flew from hers to the hammer, and back.

‘Yup.’ Darcy lifted Mew Mew from her shoulder and let the weapon spin in her hand before holding her out to Loki. ‘Wanna hold her?’ 

Shaking his head, he took a step back, skepticism warring with reluctance on his face.

‘In the past I have had my unworthiness shoved into my face enough times to know that what you are suggesting is pointless.’

Tilting her head, Darcy listened to the soft zoom that traveled up her arm from where she held Mew Mew.

‘Hmmm... I think you should just try it.’

Loki once again shook his head, his right hand clenching and unclenching at his side, and Darcy took a step towards him, still holding out Mew Mew. Loki took a step back.

‘What have you got to lose? I mean, we’re at rock bottom already.’ She gestured at their dead and dreary surroundings. ‘The only way we can go now, is up.’

His expression became closed off, and he crossed his arms over his chest; his lips becoming a thin line as he obstinately pressed them together.

Grumbling at the stubborn toddler-like behaviour, Darcy took charge of the situation, and unceremoniously flung the hammer at his face. As she had hoped, he was too recalcitrant to step out of the way, and reflexively stuck out a hand to catch the weapon.

Confusion came only seconds before realisation. A gasp escaped him when Mew Mew stayed light as a feather.

‘ _How?_ ’ He whispered as he turned to her, his eyes slightly wet with emotion.

‘Mew Mew knows how you helped Thor, and your people. And she knows how you died to keep him, and them, safe. Your sacrifice was selfless; you knew you had almost no chance of winning, and still you followed through, even when it ended up costing you everything.’ Darcy gave him a soft smile. ‘You _are_ worthy, Loki. How could you not be?’

A shuddering breath escaped him as he gazed at Mew Mew.

‘But, how does it-’ The hammer suddenly dropped almost a foot, pulling Loki’s arm with her, and Loki quickly rephrased his question in a bid to not lose his newly found worthiness. ‘ **She!** How does _she_... know?’ He stumbled backwards a bit when the weapon became a feather weight again and upset his newfound balance.

‘Well, she has been the battery for your magic in the past months, I guess she didn’t just receive the energy, but also bits and pieces of your memories and your feelings. I don’t exactly know how it works, because although I talk to her, she only sends something akin thoughts back to me. It’s a jumble of feelings of a sort, and impressions, and sometimes an image. Very instinctive. She isn’t used to communicating. Told me that I was the first one in her whole existence who bothered making a connection and made her realise that there could be a two way communication... of sorts.’ Darcy sighed sadly and shook her head. ‘Must’ve been so lonely...’

Loki grinned triumphantly. In the few minutes since discovering that he could lift Mew Mew, he had recovered admirably from being very close to an emotional breakdown.

‘By Asgard, I cannot wait to see Thor’s face when I walk up to him holding this thing-’ Suddenly his other hand flew to the handle and he had to fight to keep the hammer from falling straight onto his foot; only stopping her half a millimetre above his boot. ‘ **Her! Holding HER!!!** ’ The hammer did not relent, staying heavy enough for Loki to have trouble keeping it from crushing his toes. ‘I’m sorry! I’m _Sorry!_ I will _not_ pester Thor! I swear! _I swear_!’ This time he did lose his balance when Mew Mew decided that he was worthy again, and he fell backwards onto his butt.

To Darcy, it was an unbelievably funny sight to see Loki struggle with the weapon, and then give in to her demands so he could just hold her for a bit longer. Mew Mew would have the unruly god of grump house trained in no time, if he wanted to stay worthy of lifting her. She snickered at the thought.

But then Loki did the unexpected. He hastily stood back up, and thrust the weapon into her direction; holding it out with a stricken expression.

‘Here, you take her.’

Darcy sent him a surprised look as she hesitantly took the hammer from him.

‘Uh... Okay... but why? You’ve only just discovered that you can lift her. I would’ve thought you wouldn’t want to part with her for at least a few hours.’

‘She is a bit too whimsical for my tastes.’ The sour remark made a giggle bubble up in her throat. Loki let out an annoyed huff, and looked like he couldn’t believe his own bad luck.

That was it, Darcy couldn’t hold it back anymore, and a loud laugh burst from her lips.

‘This is not funny.’ Loki complained.

‘It is... from where... I’m standing.’ She hiccupped; trying to regain her composure. Seeing Loki’s irked expression made her dissolve into a new bout of the giggles. ‘Mew Mew was right, you _have_ turned into a grumpy old man.’

‘I have not!’ The outrage in his voice made her laugh even harder. ‘Wait, she said that?!’

‘Not in so many words. But I think I got the gist of it.’ She grinned, slipping her hand through the leather loop that had been fastened to Mew Mew’s handle. ‘So, how about we see if Mew Mew has the power to get us out of here, grumpy god?’

‘What? You want to fly out? I do not think you would survive an inter-dimensional, outer space flight.’ Loki looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

Grinning conspiringly at him, she shook her head.

‘Well, if you keep underestimating me... us... then I’m not gonna tell you about the time Mew Mew and me went to Hawaii for an afternoon, when Thor was... indisposed. Or the time we went to see the Great Wall of China.’

‘You flew with her?’

‘Oh, no, of course not. I would have ended up frozen solid if we had _flown_.’ Darcy tapped the hammer affectionately. ‘No, Mew Mew here, can power her own little version of a one person Einstein-Rosen Bridge. But only over relatively small distances; probably only a couple of million kilometres. Which is still quite far, if you look at it from a human point of view, but when you look at the vastness of the universe, well, then it’s not that far at all, is it?’

‘A what bridge?’

‘Oh, keep up with the times, Loki. Calling it the Bifrost is _so_ passé.’

‘Mjölnir is capable of summoning the Bifrost?!’ If he had managed to sound any more incredulous, Darcy would have conked him over the head with a very offended feeling Mew Mew.

‘Yes.’

‘But Thor never-’

‘Thor doesn’t know.’

‘What? Why not?’

‘Because he’s nev-’ She fell silent when Mew Mew started a faint, zooming hum. ‘Because... he’s a short-sighted troglodyte... who thinks... he already knows it all.... and doesn’t need to _read the fucking manual._ ’ Darcy adjusted what she’d wanted to say when the hammer started to push snippets of images, and frustrated feelings into her mind.

It stayed quiet for a moment.

Then a chuckle came from Loki’s direction. It sounded almost involuntary in its abruptness.

‘You mean to say... That my oaf of a brother... has had the power to summon the _Bifrost_ with him for a thousand years, but he didn’t know about it, because he was too _proud_ to learn how to properly wield the weapon his father gave him?’

‘Hmm... yup. That about sums it up, yeah.’ Darcy nodded. Her hand went up to her face to push up her glasses in a thoughtless gesture before she realised that she didn’t need to do that anymore, so she diverted her hand to her thick, dark hair, and pushed it behind her ear. Loki’s eyes followed the movement, and then dipped lower, to where her the side of her neck was now visible, following the line of her throat to...

‘Are you staring at my tits?!’ 

‘No!’ Loki’s gaze flew up to hers; holding it for just a second before looking away, clearing his throat. 

‘It’s okay, you know.’

That caught his attention, his eyes snapping back to hers.

‘What?’ 

‘Well, they _are_ glorious after all.’ She gestured at the ladies with her free hand and observed how he became flustered.

‘What?’ He croaked, his gaze involuntarily dropping below her neck again before he caught himself and visibly concentrated to keep them on her face.

Not being able to keep her expression straight anymore, she burst out into laughter.

‘Dude, you should see your face right now! For someone who’s a thousand years old, you’re absolutely rubbish at keeping your shit together when confronted with a pair of pretty boobs.’

‘Can we please not talk about your... assets?’ 

‘Dude, you started it!’

‘I did not!’ His outraged response made her snicker.

‘You may not have said anything, but your eyes did the talking for you.’ She grinned at him with the tip of her tongue sticking out between her teeth. When Loki said nothing, but just stared at her as if he didn’t understand how the hell he had gotten himself into this situation, she decided to take pity on him. ‘Now, before we get distracted by my boobs again, shall we try and see if we’re able to return to the universe of the living?’

Loki took in a deep breath through his nose, his nostrils flaring as he visibly calmed himself down.

‘Did you not just tell me that Mjölnir can only transport one person? How do you propose we solve that problem? Flip a coin for it? The loser stays behind?’

Darcy shook her head, and smiled triumphantly.

‘Nope.’ She raised Mew Mew. ‘She’s so supercharged with your energy, that she thinks she will be able to transport two people at once.’

‘Does she now?’ It looked like Loki didn’t have much fate in the weapon.

‘Yup. She’s reasonably sure.’

‘Reasonably? Define, reasonably.’ The trickster’s voice deepened with skepticism.

‘Well... She will either transport both of us... or one-and-a-half of us.’

‘One-and-A-HALF?!’

The loud exclamation made her cringe slightly, but she refused to stand down.

‘I think it’s the best chance we’ve got of getting out of here.’

After throwing his hands up in exasperation, Loki raked his fingers through his hair.

‘And how does this, in _any_ way, sound like a good idea to you?!’

‘Mew Mew thinks we’ve got an eighty-six point six percent chance that everything will turn out as intended.’

‘Eighty-six point...’ Loki grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her gently -which surprised her, because he was well on his way to becoming apoplectic with frustration-. ‘Have you any idea of the amount of times the Norns have turned against me when I took such chances?! I do not have a good record when it comes to facing the odds and coming out a victor!’

‘Hey, just look at it from the bright side! You might be the one staying whole, and I might become the half.’ Winking at him, she shrugged. ‘And I believe we make our own fate... Not to mention that when we combine our own magic with the power stored in Mew Mew, the chance of us coming through this trip with all our limbs attached improves considerably. To... I’d say... ninety-seven point eight percent.’

Shaking his head at her, Loki sighed defeatedly. He dropped his hands from her shoulders, looking resigned.

‘This is madness.’

‘But _so_ cool! Think of it! We’ll be the first people to hop over an Einstein-Rosen Bridge while trying to escape the realm of the dead! We’ll be the first to have traveled the universe with Mew Mew.’ She hesitated when it occurred to her that both Thor and Loki had traveled the universe with the hammer, and so had Jane now that she thought of it. Quickly she amended her statement ‘Okay, so, we will be the first people to have traveled the universe with Mew Mew, without Thor present.’

‘Fine... Let’s just get this over with.’ 

‘Oh, have a little faith, Loki. You have to _believe_ stuff is possible before you can make it possible.’

Loki only heaved a sigh, sounding doubtful about their chance of success.

Gently putting Mew Mew down on the ground, Darcy looked up at him, and saw how he tried to tamp down on the hope that slowly bloomed inside him. It broke her heart to see how the past few terrible years had taken their toll on him. He was afraid to hope for anything better than what he had right in that moment; and terribly afraid to lose it if he took a leap of faith.

On a whim, she stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around him, enveloping him in a tight hug.

‘Everything will be okay, Loki... I promise we’ll be fine.... I believe Mew Mew can ferry us safely to where we want to go.’

At first, he froze in her embrace, all his muscles tensing from her unexpected action. But then he relaxed a fraction. Slowly, his arms came around her, and before she knew it, he was hugging her back; pulling her against him as if his life depended on it. And maybe it did. It occurred to Darcy that, with everything that went on in the past -almost- decade, this might be the first time in a very long time that he had bodily contact with someone who didn’t want anything from him, or do anything to him; her touch might have even been the only one which didn’t end with him being captured, imprisoned, tortured, or killed. Tears of compassion sprung to her eyes at that thought. 

‘You cannot promise that.’ Loki said quietly from above her, after a lengthy silence. At first, she thought he’d somehow read her mind and picked up on her last thoughts, but then she realised that he was talking about them getting out of Hel completely intact.

Leaning back, she looked him in the eye; her gaze filled with a steely kind of determination.

‘Like hell I can’t. I may not know how this energy...’ He gave her a stern look, and she reworded the term. ‘ _..._ this _magic_ inside me works, exactly, but I _do_ know that, most of the time, it makes technology, and related energies, bend over backwards to deliver whatever I set my mind to. So, when I say that Mew Mew, who is a sentient technological miracle by Earth standards, will get us out of here, safely, then you can bet your ass that it will happen that way. I won’t accept any other outcome.’

‘What if you are wrong?’

‘Then you get to haunt me for as long and as much as you want, and follow me around while yelling “I told you so!” from the top of your dead lungs, until I expire from lack of sleep.’

It was quiet for a few seconds before an amused snicker sounded from above. 

Darcy happily beamed up at him before licking her chapped lips with her dry tongue. The smile had caused a small fissure to appear in the dry skin of her lips. _Ouch..._ Rubbing her tongue against her palate, she tried to get some moisture going, but her mouth was as dry as the Sahara by that point, with corresponding gritty mould taste. Which made her realise something else.

‘Hey... Why is it that I can’t taste your magic anymore? That terrible taste of Hela’s little forcefield magic really lingers in my mouth. _Yech_.’ She stuck out her parched tongue as if that would help her get rid of the taste.

‘I am shielding myself. Earlier, I was too weak to shield off my true nature completely, but not anymore.’

‘But... Why would you do that?’ Darcy raised her eyebrows in surprise; unable to deduce why he felt the need to hide himself from her.

Loki unwrapped his arms from around her and stepped back.

‘You have seen my _true_ form. I am a monster.’ He sounded so resigned at what he obviously saw as fact that it left Darcy flabbergasted.

‘Huh? Only because you have blue skin with raised markings? Why would that make you a monster?’

‘I am a Jotun; a Frost Giant. They are _monsters_!’

‘Are they?’

‘Yes! They are abominations!’

‘And how did you come to that conclusion? Who told you that they are monsters?’

‘On Asgard, parents scare their children into behaving by telling them that if they don’t behave, the Frost Giants will come and take them away to eat them. There are numerous scary bedtime stories about them. And we are taught from a young age about the war they started; the heinous acts they committed. How they are a violently volatile race of abhorrent creatures.’

‘Hm... Sounds like a load of propaganda bull to me.’

‘What?’

‘Well, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt during my studies, it is that there’s always two sides to a story, and most times there are even more than two. Nothing is _ever_ black and white. And History is always, _ALWAYS_ , written by the victor. Who was the victor?’

‘Asgard... My fath-... Odin.’

‘And what did Odin do?’

‘He ruled the nine realms... after... he... conquered them.’

‘There you go... He would have needed an excuse to start the subjugation of an entire race, though. What was his excuse for launching an offensive on the Jotuns?’

‘They were wreaking havoc on Midgard. Plundering, and murdering innocent people.’

‘And did the entire Jotun race enthusiastically participate in those raids? Or was it only a relatively small band of rogues who did that? Did they wreak havoc on the entire planet, or were there isolated incidents that stayed contained to certain areas?’

‘I... I don’t know.’ He sounded surprised by that response. To Darcy it wasn’t very surprising that he didn’t know. This was textbook propaganda-induced behaviour. Tyrant one-oh-one.

‘And that is because you have been indoctrinated by your parents from a young age, just like other Asgardian children were by theirs. You had to believe that the Frost Giants as a species were terrible monsters. A whole population of evil incarnate. Just so that Odin’s position as their conqueror, and ruler, wouldn’t be questioned by later generations of Asgardians who weren’t there for the actual “war” with the Jotun. The whole _Jotuns_ -are- _monsters_ schtick was so completely set in stone inside your mind by the time you reached adulthood, that those words became synonymous to each other; and you didn’t even think to question the stories about Odin winning the terrible-war-those-monsters-started, and then ruling gloriously victorious over the realm of those evil, shrewd, and ugly Frost Giants.’

Loki stared at her; wide eyed and speechless. She gave him a soft, compassionate smile.

‘It’s okay, you know. Don’t beat yourself up about it; ‘cause it’s not your fault. You were a victim of circumstance; taught to hate and fear what turned out to be your own people. The Asgardians taught you to hate yourself. It was, and still is, a _terrible_ injustice that has been done to you, and I want you to know that you don’t have to pretend to be something you’re not around me. I’m not afraid of you, nor am I disgusted by you, no matter which guise you choose to present to the world.’

Shaking his head, he let out a shuddering breath, and couldn’t seem to find the words to respond. 

Tilting her head, she wiggled her eyebrows and threw him a lopsided smile.

‘Now, help me get this Hela taste off of my tongue by un-shielding your magic, and let me see that gorgeous blue skin of yours, handsome; ‘cause, _Yuck_ , right now it’s like I’ve eaten thirty day old mouldy bread, repeatedly.’

When he breathed in through his nose, and stared at her as his nostrils flared, expression closed off, she became aware of the fact that she might have gone a bit overboard with her oration on the evils of indoctrination. And maybe she should have toned down those slightly flirty last few sentences a bit. 

_Hmmm... Oops?_

With one stride he closed the distance between them. Before she could react to his sudden movement, though, she found herself in his arms again; the pale skin of his Asgardian appearance starting to melt away and revealing his true form. He kept his eyes on her face almost anxiously; clearly waiting for her to react badly. Which she didn’t.

His deep red gaze narrowed when her relaxed expression didn’t change, and when she opened her mouth to half-jokingly ask if she’d missed something important that was apparently going on, he gently laid his noticeably cooler hand on her cheek, his thumb caressing her cheekbone, and inclined his head; leaning slightly forward. His lips pressed to hers in an infinitely delicate and tender kiss; and the burnt-sugar-and-cinnamon taste that she’d longed for, exploded almost violently against her tastebuds when his tongue gently touched hers through her parted lips. The sensation of kissing someone with a perpetually lower body temperature felt foreign, and a bit weird, but not unpleasant.

_Holy fuck holy fuck holy fuck..._

A small, contented sigh escaped her lips, and he pulled back as if he’d been bitten; his expression one of shock and confusion, like he couldn’t believe he’d just kissed her. He also seemed a bit dazed. 

_Good._ That was how _she_ felt, too. In a good way.

Not one to let an opportunity go to waste, Darcy took control of the situation before the blue doofus scared himself out of continuing this line of action. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she enthusiastically pushed up on her tippy toes and reacquainted her lips with his; exerting a bit more pressure this time to see how he’d react.

He didn’t disappoint.

After an initial hesitation, he tilted his head slightly, slanting his mouth over hers more forcefully; and what had started with a feather light kiss not a minute before, completely spiralled out of control within seconds. In addition to the unbelievably sensual strokes of his tongue against hers, alternated by sharp, but titillating nibbles on her plump lower lip, his magic seemed to swirl with, and clash against hers as their passion built; adding to the fire that burned deep inside her.

Blindly, Loki manoeuvred her backwards to the stone coffin, and effortlessly lifted her onto the edge with one hand on her ass and the other buried in her hair at the back of her head; more than willingly stepping into the cradle of her hips when her legs wrapped themselves around his pelvis.

Darcy moaned into his mouth when he ground the ridge of his already hard cock against her core, igniting a hot, tingling pleasure low in her abdomen. Loki’s answering growl came from deep within his chest, making her tighten her legs around him and locking her ankles behind his back, pulling him closer as he pivoted his hips and upped the pressure he put onto her clit. Somehow, it didn’t really matter that there still were two layers of protective clothing between them. Gasping against his mouth, she felt how he worked her, and himself, to a peak of dizzying pleasure, with increasingly rapid thrusts.

_Oh fuck oh fuck oh... oh... don’t stop. Please don’t stop._

The electric pulse that hit them both had nothing to do with pleasure, or peaks for that matter. Both of them cried out as they fell away from each other, Darcy backwards onto the lid of the stone coffin, while Loki dropped to the ground.

‘What the HELL?!?... _Mew Mew_!’ Darcy panted frustratedly as she twitched from the residual electricity that sparked through her muscles. She had recognised the hammer’s energy immediately. Groaning, she rolled to her side and pushed herself up, peeking over the edge of the coffin to where Loki was picking himself off of the ground. ‘Are you okay?’

Loki grabbed the edge of the coffin lid, and pulled himself up to a standing position. He stretched his long limbs, before glaring viciously at Mew Mew.

‘What is _wrong_ with that thing?’

‘I don’t know... Maybe she didn’t want to see your naked blue ass, and intervened before you could drop your pants.’ Darcy humorously quipped as she slowly got her breathing back under control.

His gaze snapped back to hers, and somehow, his cheekbones coloured a darker blue.

_Is he blushing?!_

‘Or maybe she wants to get on with escaping from this hell-hole... She’s not wrong, you know. I’d like to leave this joint as soon as possible, too.’ She winked at him. ‘Maybe we should shelve this,’ she gestured between the two of them, ‘until a later time; finish what we started after we find somewhere more private?’ Smiling mischievously with her tongue peeking out from between her teeth, she gave him a heated once-over. Which deepened the already dark shade of blue on his cheeks even more.

He cleared his throat and looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. It seemed he was lost for words for the moment.

_Hmmm, interesting... Definitely gonna file that under ‘ways to shut Loki up’..._ For future reference, of course.

Deciding to cut him some slack, she changed the subject.

‘So, wanna help me down?’

Taking his proffered hand, she hopped down from her high perch. Making her way to Mew Mew, she picked the weapon up and slid the leather strap around her wrist. 

Mew Mew’s mood felt like she was a bit peeved.

‘Sorry, hon. Lost track of time for a bit. How about we get this movable feast on the road?’ Feeling how Mew Mew became a bit more approachable after her apology, Darcy smiled. 

She walked back to Loki and held out the hammer to him.

‘Here, hold onto her, and don’t let go.’ To her surprise, Loki did as she said without any objections. ‘Okay, so, I don’t really know _exactly_ where we’re supposed to go, because it was pretty dark when I arrived there, but I think I know a way to get there without too much difficulty... Oh, and hold onto me... And _don’t_ let go.’

Wrapping his free arm tightly around her, he pulled her against him. 

‘Never.’ His voice was a deep rumble in his chest.

Swallowing at hearing the word, the way it had been spoken conveying so much more than just one answer, Darcy looked away from him, and to Mew Mew.

‘Okay Mew Mew, here we go. Bring us to Tony Stark’s lab.’

Feeling how the hammer powered up for the inter-dimensional trip, and how both her and Loki’s magic were pulled towards the weapon, charging it even more than it already had been, Darcy held on for dear life; expecting a very rocky voyage. The hammer started to vibrate in their hands, and their surroundings suddenly looked distorted, as if she was seeing it through a misshapen mirror; like the kind you found at fairs and carnivals, and were always good for a laugh. She didn’t really feel like laughing, though, because a terrible pressure pushed in on her from the outside. It made her ears pop and her head hurt.

Just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, there suddenly was a bright flash, the pressure abated, and they were standing inside some kind of barn structure.

_That’s weird... Where’s the lab?_

Darcy looked around in surprise and then turned her attention to Loki, who, like her, looked to be completely intact, and healthy.

‘Well, that was a bit anticlimactic. I’d expected there to be more turbulence-’ 

 

‘ _Hey_ , who are you?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Fancy seeing you here, at the end of this chapter! :D
> 
> As you seem to have made it all the way down to the last words, please take a few seconds more to leave me a note if you liked the chapter, or feed the Muse some kudos. We thrive on that shit! <3 (Apparently, it makes us type up new chapters in record time! Imagine that!)
> 
> Cheers! :D


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where in the world is Darcy Lewis?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday everyone!
> 
> Here's a have-an-awesome-weekend update! 
> 
> Enjoy! :D

**Chapter 10**

 

In a barn. Somewhere.

 

The tiny voice came from behind her, and when she turned around, Darcy spotted a little girl standing in the opening of the half-opened barn door. She couldn’t have been more than four years old, maybe even a bit younger, and in her arms she held what looked like a rag doll resembling the Iron Man suit.

The girl looked past her to Loki and smiled, two adorable dimples appearing in her cheeks.

‘You look like aunty Nebby. She’s blue, too. I like her.’

Being as fearless as a child could be at her age, she ran up to Loki, and hugged him around the legs.

Completely flummoxed, Loki stared down at the little girl who had attached herself to him. 

‘She is not afraid of me.’ He whispered, before looking up at Darcy with a helpless expression on his face. ‘What do I do?’ His hands were hovering in the air just above the child’s dark locks.

Darcy shrugged nonchalantly, but was secretly saddened by his confusion.

‘Well, you hug her back, of course.’ She said, making it sound as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do. Which it was, of course, just not to Loki. And that broke her heart.

He sent her an unsure look.

‘Well, go on.’ Darcy encouraged him. ‘She won’t bite.’

Just when he hesitantly moved his hands to lay them on the girl’s back, she let go of him, and stepped back. Loki startled and pulled his hands away as if he’d been bitten.

The child reached up with her hands, one of which was still holding the Iron Man rag doll, and exclaimed a demanding, ‘Up!’ When he didn’t immediately react to her demand, she repeated it.

Completely out of his comfort zone, Loki once again looked to Darcy to translate the strange little creature’s behaviour to him.

‘She wants you to pick her up.’ Darcy patiently explained.

‘What? _Why_?!’ The suddenly panicked expression on Loki’s face tickled Darcy’s humour, but she kept her composure.

‘It’s what children do when they want a cuddle, or get tired, or are in need of comforting. It’s a natural thing to them that an adult picks them up and hugs or carries them when needed.’

‘Why don’t _you_ take her?’

‘She wants _you_ to pick her up, not me. Besides, I have Mew Mew.’ She pointed at the hammer and threw him an encouraging smile.

‘What if I drop her?’

‘You won’t.’

‘What makes you so sure?’

‘Your reflexes are too good.’

‘You have a point.’ He conceded, and looked down at the expectant little girl with an unsure expression. She was still beaming up at him cheerfully. Just when Darcy thought that he’d refuse, he bent over to pick up the girl, shifting her onto his right arm, and making sure her little legs were hugging around to his back and stomach, so she was seated comfortably against his side.

_Would you just look at that._ Darcy’s heart melted at the sight of the tall male protectively cradling the tiny girl against him. _He’s a natural._

‘I’m Morgan. What’s your name?’ 

‘I am Loki.’

‘Lo-ki.’ Morgan tried out the name. ‘That’s nice. Why are you blue?’

Loki looked lost for words for a moment before he recovered from his temporary muteness, and looked helplessly towards Darcy.

‘What do I say?’

Realising that he had no idea how to even explain his own heritage to himself, let alone to a little girl, Darcy came to his aid.

‘He’s blue, because that’s his natural state, just like you and me are a pale shade of pink. But you know what’s really cool?’

The girl shook her head.

‘No?’

‘Loki can change his appearance. You wanna see?’ 

‘Really?’ Came the enthusiastic response.

Observing Loki closely for any sign of distress and not finding any, Darcy nodded at the little girl. When he sent her a grateful look, she knew that giving him an excuse to slip back into the guise he’d worn all his life -first unknowingly, and later because the alternative was unthinkable to him- had been the right thing to do. He might have dropped the mirage for her, but it looked like he wasn’t ready to show it to all the world just yet.

‘Watch this.’ He said, and a ripple of green golden light traveled down his body, returning his appearance to Asgard Loki.

The girl watched with bated breath.

‘Wow.’ She whispered reverently. 

Then she turned her attention to Darcy. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Hi Morgan, I’m Darcy.’ She gave the girl a little wave and a smile.

‘Why are you in our shed?’

‘Um, well, we don’t know exactly. We just somehow landed here when we were actually on our way to a different destination.’

‘Oh, where were you going?’

From outside the barn, someone called Morgan’s name.

‘That’s my daddy.’ The girl said happily. ‘Do you want to come eat at my house?’

‘Uh... Oh, I don’t know if your parents will be okay with that. Let’s just make sure you get home safe, and then we’ll be on our way.’

‘Oh. Do you have to?’ Morgan sounded so disappointed and cute that Darcy had a hard time not going ‘awwww’ and give in to any and every demand the gorgeous little girl could come up with. Chancing a look at Loki, she concluded that she wasn’t the only one under the kindergartener’s spell. He looked reluctant at having to put the girl down.

Taking pity on him, she got his attention by clearing her throat. His gaze shot to hers from where he’d been staring at the miniature human with a stunned look on his face.

‘If you could, um, change our wardrobe to something a bit more... Earth-like, then we can take Morgan home to her mummy and daddy.’ Raising her eyebrows at him, she pointedly looked at their dark, leather-looking attire.

Within seconds both their outfits had changed into something more appropriate. 

Well, hers had, anyway. She was wearing black jeans with black, knee-high leather boots, and a powder blue knitted sweater with a unicorn on the front, and rainbow cuffs on the ends of the sleeves. She sent him a look that said ‘ _Really?!_ ’, but he only straightened the black tie he was wearing over a black dress shirt, which was part of an expensive looking, black bespoke suit, while he flashed her a teasingly smug smile.

‘Doesn’t that suit make you a bit overdressed for someone who just walked out of a barn? I mean, it’s not like we’re in some swanky part of town or anything...’

‘One has to always be ready to make a good impression.’ He retorted.

‘Then why did you give me a freaking Christmas sweater?!’ She exclaimed, making Loki grin widely.

Morgan giggled at her annoyance.

‘I like the unicorn.’ She said, turning to Loki and looking at him expectantly.

‘You do, do you?’ The little girl nodded her head vigorously at his question.

The girl’s clothes lit up with his magic, and then she was wearing the same outfit as Darcy; black jeans and a unicorn sweater. Morgan clapped her hands in joy before hugging Loki around his neck. 

‘Thank you thank you thank you!’

Darcy’s own sweater morphed into a black, long-sleeved t-shirt and a short, black leather jacket.

‘Hm, that’s better.’ She mumbled. ‘Let’s go, Morgan’s father is getting a bit worried, I think.’ And indeed, the man’s voice had taken on a sharper edge as he called out to his daughter.

Darcy led Loki, who was still carrying Morgan, out of the barn-like structure and took in their surroundings to get her bearings.

They were stood in a clearing in the woods, with the ‘shed’ behind them, and a large wooden log cabin in front of them, about forty feet away. On its veranda stood a dark-haired man with a very well-kept beard and a very familiar face. 

‘What the fuck?’ Darcy whispered to herself.

_When did he return from space? When did they find him?!... He looks good for someone who’s been missing for weeks..._

Then she realised... Tony Stark did _not_ have a daughter. Pepper Potts wasn’t even pregnant.

At least... Not when Darcy had fallen into a space portal and ended up in a realm called Hel... Where time apparently worked very differently from anywhere else.

‘How long was I gone?!’ She wondered, feeling stunned.

The words were spoken out loud, and caught mr Stark’s attention.

The moment he laid eyes on them, he froze. It didn’t last long, though. When he located his daughter sitting on Loki’s arm, waving enthusiastically and smiling at him from her perch, he jumped the veranda’s fence, his worried expression turning into one of intense fear.

‘MORGAN!’ The cry leaving his body sounded so desperate that Darcy cringed in sympathy. Realising that the situation they found themselves in didn’t look good from where mr Stark was standing, she took a step back when the billionaire’s arm became encased in part of the Iron Man suit, and the thruster that covered his hand charged within seconds, emitting a high-pitched sound.

_Oh shit... not good..._

Glancing to where **_Loki_** was stood, holding _Tony Stark’s freaking DAUGHTER_ , she stepped to the side and planted herself in front of them. This really was a worst case scenario.

‘Mr Stark? I’m Darcy Lewis, I was doctor Foster’s assistant-’

‘I don’t give a shit about who you are! Give me back my daughter, before I blow Reindeer Games’ brains out!’ He threateningly raised his weapon, aiming it at Loki’s head.

In Loki’s arms, Morgan had gone very quiet, shying away from her suddenly irate father, and burying her face against Loki’s shoulder.

Behind her, Darcy heard how Loki calmly spoke to the little girl.

‘Morgan, I am going to put you down now, and then you are going to walk to your father.’

‘Okay.’ Morgan said quietly, sounding like she expected to be in trouble.

It was only seconds later that Morgan walked past her and then ran the last twenty feet to her father.

Stark grabbed her hand and pulled her backwards until he was back at the cabin, all the while keeping his charged weapon aimed at Loki and Darcy. He pushed Morgan towards the veranda stairs.

‘Go to your mom, honey. Dad’s going to stay for a chat with these people for a while.’

Little Morgan rushed up the steps and disappeared into the house, without looking back.

After assuring himself that his daughter was safely inside, Stark turned back to where Darcy and Loki were still standing around waiting for him to return.

‘Don’t make any sudden movements. He seems a bit trigger happy at the moment. I don’t want to have to go back to Hel and pick your ass up _again_.’ Darcy said from the corner of her mouth.

Loki hummed softly in reply, but refrained from talking; his eyes narrowing as he observed the approaching figure of Tony Stark.

‘Stark.’ He nodded tersely at the man when he came to a stop about ten feet away, the weapon still aimed at Loki’s head.

‘Loki.’ After biting out the name, Tony stayed quiet, keeping Loki in his cross-hairs.

Darcy looked from one male to the other, raising an eyebrow at the dramatic silence and the dark back-and-forth stares.

‘Mew Mew.’ Raising the hammer, she pointed at Mew Mew; after which she pointed at herself.

‘Darcy.’ There was no reaction from the two men, and she let out an annoyed sigh. ‘So, now that we’re all acquainted, can we please lose the blaster thingy? I don’t wanna have to scrape the Royal Brains of Asgard from the floor. Or exploded Stark ass from the side of that lovely cabin. Oh, and the testosterone fueled brooding has to go, too. From _both_ of you.’

That got Stark’s attention.

‘Where did you get that?’ He pointed at Mew Mew.

‘Found her. Just after finding _him_ , too.’ Darcy nodded her head toward Loki to indicate him.

‘ _He_ is supposed to be _dead_.’

‘Yeah... It didn’t stick.’ 

‘Seems to happen a lot where he’s concerned... What exactly did you mean by _exploded Stark ass_? I’m the one with the blaster here.’ He turned his arm this way and that, so that the metal caught the light dramatically, without taking his aim off of Loki.

Darcy sighed irritatedly at the male posturing. 

‘Well, if you blast his brains out, then I will have to explode your ass, you see.’

‘Uh, no, I don’t see. I’ll just blast you, too.’

‘How would you be able to do that if it wouldn’t work? You know what... I’ve had it with witty adversary banter and violence for the day.’ Darcy grumbled. ‘Hey Friday! You there?’

‘ _Hello, Darcy, I have missed you._ ’ Came the A.I.’s voice from Stark’s vicinity.

Darcy heard an alarmed sound come from Stark at the amicable tone of his A.I.

‘Aw, I missed you too, F... Hey, could you please initiate the localised Toddler Temper Tantrum protocol for me?’

‘ _Of course. Perimeter?’_

‘What?’ Stark exclaimed, sounding outraged.

‘Hm, just Stark’s weapons located in North America. Include the entire Iron Man fleet and the latest prototypes for good measure.’

_‘Yes, Darcy._ ’

Immediately, the blaster on Stark’s arm powered down, and he looked at it with flabbergasted trepidation.

‘Friday, override that command!’ He barked.

‘ _Unable to comply._ ’ Friday said.

‘What? Why?!’

‘ _Darcy Lewis_ _knows best. Darcy Lewis is Queen_.’

‘What kind of bullshit is that?!’ Stark growled, shaking his weaponised arm up and down as if that would somehow miraculously cause it to work again.

‘Yeah, no, I just disarmed the biggest part of North America. That thing isn’t coming online again. Unless I tell it to.’

‘How?!’

‘That is what I keep asking, but I do not think there is one exact answer. And she does not seem to know, either.’ Loki butted into the conversation.

‘No-one’s asking you, Cernunnos.’

‘Hey! No need to be rude!’ Darcy admonishingly said.

‘Darcy?’ A new voice came from the direction of the cabin and all three of them turned toward the woman who had walked onto the deck, carrying Morgan on her hip. ‘Is that really you?’ She sounded disbelieving, but hopeful. And not threatening, like Stark’s did.

A big grin started on Darcy’s face.

‘Pepper! I’m so happy to see you!’

Pepper Potts descended the veranda steps and hurried over.

‘Oh my god, I can’t believe it’s you. We thought you were dead!’

‘Pep! Stay back!’ Stark called out, walking backwards towards the redhead and not taking his eyes off of Darcy and Loki. ‘It’s too dangerous!’

‘What? It’s Darcy! You know, I told you about her. She’s the one who wrote the code for The Net and- Oh...’ When she laid eyes on Loki, Pepper faltered in her steps. ‘Is that-’

At her hesitation, Loki stepped forward with a charming smile and took her right hand in his.

‘Loki Odinson, Prince of Asgard, and rightful King of Jotunheim, at your service, Mistress Potts.’ He bowed and kissed her hand briefly before letting it go and stepping back, clasping his hands behind his back in a relaxed pose.

‘Oh... uh... Hi.’ Pepper stuttered; a slight blush coloured her cheeks. Apparently she was thrown completely off kilter from Loki’s formal greeting. On her hip, Morgan giggled at her mom’s flustered reaction.

‘Don’t you dare touch her again!’ Stark ground out as he pushed Loki backwards. Not that it resulted inanything else than Stark pushing himself back. Loki didn’t even move, and just smiled venomously at the irate man.

‘Ugh, could you two just _stop_?!’ Fed up with the two men, Darcy walked around them to give Pepper a hug. ‘Hi, hon. Lovely little girl you’ve got there.’ 

When Stark turned his attention back to Darcy and started spluttering about keeping her distance from his family, she’d just about had it.

‘Look, we’ve been here for, like, twenty minutes, and you and your family are still alive and well. The _only_ person around here who has been hostile is _you_! I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Loki hasn’t even raised his voice to you, let alone taken up arms. Now, I know you two have a... difficult past, but I can assure you, we don’t want any trouble.’

‘Are you staying for dinner?’ Pepper asked, steering her attention away from the infuriating men.

‘Oh, we’d love to.’ Darcy beamed at the other woman. ‘I’m starving. And very thirsty. Can I bother you for a glass of water? I haven’t had any in gods know how long... Time in Hel is really weird.’

‘Sure, come on in... Hell, you say?’ The redhead raised an inquiring eyebrow as she ushered Darcy towards the cabin.

‘Yeah, but Hel with one ‘L’, though. Not the flame-y place with the guy with the pitch fork. It was a bit chilly, even.’

‘Oh?’

‘Long story, but one I’d be happy to tell you over dinner.’ Walking up the steps of the veranda, she followed Pepper into the cabin, leaving the two men outside to their own devices. Now that Stark’s weapons within a few thousand miles were disabled, he couldn’t hurt Loki, and if she got the vibe coming from Loki right, then he would maybe nettle the guy a bit, but he wouldn’t hurt an unarmed man. 

Probably.

She hoped.

When she looked back through the glass door after it had fallen closed behind her, she saw how both Stark and Loki side-eyed each other while they stiffly walked towards the cabin together, and up the veranda steps. Neither of them prepared to let the other out of their sight.

‘Oh, they are ridiculous.’ She mumbled.

Pepper stepped up next to her, glanced out the window, and snickered.

‘They really are. But you shouldn’t forget that the last time those two saw each other, it was after the New York invasion, when Thor took his brother home to Asgard, and Loki had tossed Tony out of a window only a few days earlier.’

‘Hm, true. I’d be pissed at that, too.’ Darcy admitted. ‘Loki _did_ save both Thor’s and Jane’s lives multiple times after that, though. And he tried to save his people _and_ his brother from Thanos; sacrificing himself in the process.’

Seeing that neither Stark nor Loki were willing to go into the cabin first, lest their ‘enemy’ would be at their back, Darcy pulled open the door, and grabbed Loki by the hand, hauling him into the house, very much aware of the fact that he most probably had allowed her to do that, because she didn’t think anyone could make Loki move when he didn’t want to move.

‘There, solved your manly problem... Now, can we please act as the adults we all are, and call a truce? Mr Stark, Loki is not the same person he was during the attack on New York. I would even say that he was a completely different person back then, his mind warped by unimaginably horrific torture and brainwashing; not to mention him being placed under the heavy influence of the mind stone by Thanos and his henchmen; an infinity stone which, as I have come to understand, is a moody, vicious bi-’ She swallowed the word when her eyes fell on a very attentively listening Morgan. _Oops_. ‘Shrew.’ Then she turned to Loki. ‘And you. Can you _please_ exercise a bit of self restraint, and not upset the balance of this tentative peace I’m trying to barter? I’d be very grateful if we could just get through dinner without someone being pummelled to death with a plate because that certain _someone_ felt the need to irritate the shit out of his _former_ adversary.’ 

Throwing an unamused Loki one last, warning glare, Darcy turned back to Pepper. 

‘So, how about we go get that glass of water?’ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh-oh... Powder keg, flammable, short fuses, that sort of shit... O.O
> 
> Muse and I love you for all the awesome feedback -and the bucketloads of kudos- you peeps leave us! Thank you all so much! :D <3


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Loki hasn't said goodbye to his old tricks, or shed his authoritative behaviour.
> 
> Oh dear...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovelies!
> 
> I'm back.
> 
> After a long summer holiday, and a few months of two steps forward, one/two/three steps back, concerning my personal life, I think everything's more or less back on track. Or so I hope. 
> 
> It has taken me three months to write this chapter, with some of those months having come and gone without writing one. single. word.
> 
> But, I have persevered, and here we are: An update of 6000+ words. Yay!
> 
> THE SANDBOX IS ONCE AGAIN OPEN FOR BUSINESS! :D
> 
> Enjoy! 
> 
> XO

**Chapter 11**

 

Tony Stark’s cabin in the woods... Because that’s where he lives... apparently...

 

 

Slowly, Darcy chewed her bite of salad until it was small enough to swallow without choking on it. Something her body was of a mind to do after hearing the date on which she and Loki had returned to Earth.

They -Tony, Pepper, Loki, and she- were sat at a rustic wooden table in the rustic, but modern kitchen inside the cabin, while Morgan ate her dinner in front of the screen of a futuristic looking tv in the living room.

The atmosphere in the kitchen... was uncomfortable, to say the least.

After taking a couple of sips of her water, she breathed in deeply to remain calm and let out said breath in a controlled fashion. Still, her voice squeaked weirdly when she spoke.

‘ _Five years?!_ ’ Her eyes were wide as they shot back and forth between Tony and Pepper. ‘I’ve been gone for almost **_five_** years?!’ She had known it would be a long stretch of time, seeing that Tony and Pepper now had an almost four year old daughter, but knowing it inside your head and hearing it out loud were two different things entirely, she was starting to learn. Other people saying it out loud made it more real somehow.

Pepper nodded, her expression serious and compassionate.

‘Almost to the day... Next week it would have been five years since you... disappeared.’ 

‘Died... She meant to say _died_. Because that’s what happened... You were vaporised in the explosion caused by that weird energy blast. That’s what we concluded after examining the surviving footage.’ Tony interjected, and turned to Loki, his expression hostile and his eyes accusing. ‘And _you_ , you were killed by Thanos; broken neck and all. Definitely dead. _No_ comebacks... That’s what Thor told us; he’s heartbroken from losing his brother, by the way... unlike the rest of us.’ Pointing at Loki, he snarled. ‘You’re not supposed to be able to walk, talk, and breathe, and make our lives even more difficult than they already are, but, evidently, the rules of the universe don’t apply to you. You’re like a cockroach. You just keep turning up no matter how many times people try to exterminate you... Oh, how I would have loved to go through the rest of my life without laying eyes on you ever again.’

Before Loki could reply to Tony’s metaphorical glove-slap to the face, and cause the hostile mood to deteriorate into global nuclear war, Darcy loudly threw out the first thing that came to her.

‘ ** _Ninety minutes!_** ’

Two surprised faces turned to her, eyebrows raised at her sudden, ear-shattering outburst; thankfully breaking the glacial glaring contest they had started.

‘Ninety minutes... of what?’ Tony asked, sounding flabbergasted at her strange behaviour.

Darcy was relieved that she seemed to have averted World War Three.

‘I was gone for only ninety minutes.’

‘No you weren’t.’ The billionaire objected.

‘Impossible.’ Loki accidentally sort of agreed simultaneously.

Both men once again glared at each other after discovering their suddenly overlapping opinions. Or, at least, Tony glared. Loki had this smug, challenging look on his face that only seemed to antagonise Tony further.

Darcy groaned; frustration unfurling inside her as she facepalmed. It looked like her distraction only helped for, like, a minute.

Pepper apparently felt the need to step in when Tony slammed his hands onto the table top and started to rise out of his seat after Loki started to twirl his knife around his fingers with a darkly disturbing expression on his face. Something Darcy was sure he was doing on purpose; just to rile the other man up. When Pepper spoke up admonishingly, Darcy could only wholeheartedly agree with the woman’s annoyance.

‘Boys, please stop with the eyeballing contest. I mean it. If you can’t play nice, I’ll send you to the naughty step for an hour. And you’ll get no dessert.’

Both men diverted their attention to Pepper, who frowned at them with a very stern look on her face.

‘ _Naughty_ step?’ Tony raised an eyebrow at her, his eyes suddenly twinkling mischievously. A smirk played around his lips.

Darcy frowned at him, her nose wrinkling.

_Ooo-kay... So not gonna go there... Yuck._

‘There’s dessert?’ Loki piped up from where he’d been murderously scowling at Tony. He put down his knife and directed his attention to Pepper. A charming, boyish hopefulness bloomed on his features. It would have been out of place on the face of a being as cunning and sly as he was if his whole demeanour hadn’t suddenly matched his expression; his entire body language exuded such an innocent delight that it made him somehow look like a boy barely out of his teens.

Tilting her head, Darcy observed the change in him with surprised fascination. 

_What the hell?!_

Loki’s gaze flicked from Pepper to her when he detected her scrutiny. His eyebrows rising with what looked like innocent surprise.

‘What?’ 

Narrowing her eyes, Darcy pursed her lips in annoyance before responding to his query.

‘ _Really?_ You can’t go five seconds without following the urge to create chaos and riling up people wherever you go, not even when I ask you to curb it so we can have a nice meal, but the moment someone mentions dessert, you change into this rainbow-farting, fluffy pink unicorn with heart eyes. What the fuck, man?!’ She threw up her hands in frustration.

‘I like desserts...’ Was that a petulant tone she detected, hidden under Loki’s smooth timbre?

‘You like desserts.’ The deadpan tone that passed her lips couldn’t have conveyed her displeasure any more if she’d tried. A long-suffering sigh escaped her when he nodded, his expression graced with an uncomprehending frown.

With a groan, she let her head drop to the table, and lightly smacked her forehead against the top, ignoring the pain and head-desking it repeatedly. 

On her fourth descent towards the table top, her forehead was cushioned by a palm.

‘What are you doing?’ Loki sounded alarmed by her behaviour.

She lifted her head and glared at him, grumbling her answer.

‘I’m trying to dislodge the sliver of insanity inside my brain that convinced me to make friends with a dangerous alien in a cave. It was the same sliver that gave me the lightbulb moment that led to me bringing said alien to the same place where Tony Stark happened to be; and it convinced me that it would be a _good_ idea. It’s a freaking dangerous sliver, and maybe if I get rid of it now, I’ll actually survive until I get to die on the ripe old age of ninety-six, like my best friend’s grandma, and not meet an untimely demise because of my wrongly wired perception skills and lack of self-preservation.’ 

Loki unexpectedly shot to his feet, his chair clattering to the ground as it tipped over from the sudden, violent movement; which had both Tony and Pepper tensing up and recoiling from where the Asgardian was stood. 

‘You will _not_ die.’ His almost-shout sounded like an order.

Sitting up, Darcy frowned up at him. 

_What the hell’s wrong with him all of a sudden?_

‘Of course I will. If I’m lucky and don’t have a fatal accident, or fall ill with some deadly disease, I still have fifty years or so, or, if I’m real lucky, even sixty or seventy years, but that’s it.’

‘I will _not_ allow it.’

The preposterousness of his exclamation made Darcy laugh.

‘It isn’t up to _you_ , Loki. Life isn’t kind to humans. We _always_ die in the end.’ She hadn’t meant for her admonition to sound as harsh as it did. She could see how her words hit him as if she’d slapped him, and she regretted not handling the issue with a bit more finesse. Loki’s mouth hung open as he gasped; his eyes shining almost manically, his pupils so dilated that his irises were almost invisible. 

Then it was as if a switch got flipped. His whole face went blank and his skin grew paler than she’d ever seen it.

Silently, Loki stared down his nose at her for a few seconds more, his expression becoming hard and cold, and his posture rigid.

‘You are right. Such a weak, insignificant creature you are. What a _waste_ of my time. I could snuff you out with a flick of my wrist if I wanted to.’ He spat the words at her with a sneer of contempt on his lips. 

With an almost wooden motion -something Darcy knew wasn’t up to par with his usual, uncannily fluid way of moving- he turned around and strode towards the kitchen door. 

There was no doubt in Darcy’s mind that he was going to leave and never return.

To say that his words and actions didn’t hurt her would be a lie, but she was starting to learn how to read him. And what she’d just said about her mortality had rattled him severely. She’d seen it, just before he threw up the mask of the aloof, uncaring, arrogant prince. The realisation, the denial, and the fear. It had all been there, in his face; in his eyes. For only a second. But it had been there. She was sure of it. Her words had somehow unnerved him more than he -or she for that matter- had expected.

‘So _do_ _it_ , then!’ Darcy called after him, feeling an inexplicable need to stop him from leaving, using _any_ means necessary. She had a weird feeling that if she let him walk out the door at that exact moment, it wouldn’t end well for him... Or her for that matter. It made her recklessly call him out on his bluff, because she was a hundred percent sure that’s what it was... 

_Okay, ninety-five percent sure... Hm... Maybe eighty-four percent..._

He froze with his hand on the doorknob, and slowly turned around to look back at her.

‘Do it!’ She dared him when she caught his flinty gaze with her challenging one. ‘Snuff me out if it’s so easy. You wouldn’t care either way, right?’

Picking up a carving knife from the table, where it lay next to the remains of the vegetarian roast, she stood and stepped up to him, spinning the knife in her palm so she was holding it by the blade, and held it out to him, handle forward.

Looking up at his suddenly stricken face as he stared at her, she narrowed her eyes, and pushed the handle of the knife between his slack fingers. He reflexively gripped it.

‘Do it. Just a flick of the wrist, that’s what you said, _right_?’ Pulling the blade up to her throat, and his hand with it, she tilted her head and bared her neck to him. ‘My life is worth _nothing_. It’s just a blimp in the stretching eternity that you have already lived. I’m _insignificant_.’ Her voice became quiet; the previous bite all but disappeared.

The hand that held the knife trembled under her grip when she folded her fingers around his, pressing the blade tighter against her jugular; almost breaking the skin.

‘ _What are you waiting for?_ ’ She whispered defiantly, taking in his shocked expression. ‘ _Kill me. I am nothing._ ’

With a cry, he ripped the knife away from her neck and flung it toward the kitchen cupboards, where the blade was driven -pointy end first- halfway into the wood; the utensil vibrating violently from the impact.

‘What you are, is _mad!_ ’ Loki accused her; a scowl appearing on his face. His breathing was off, he panted as if he’d ran a couple of miles. It took him only seconds to regain a steady breathing rhythm, though. In contrast to Darcy, who was quite breathless from her own bout of stupidity.

_Fucken show-off..._ She didn’t know if she meant Loki, or herself. _Shit._

‘I’m starting to think I am, yes. A hundred percent certifiably insane. Absolutely bonkers.’ Darcy heaved a cleansing sigh before pushing down the turmoil that swirled inside her after the past few minutes. Rubbing her hands over her face, a nervous giggle suddenly escaped her. ‘But you know what they say about being mad, don’t you?’

Loki looked at her as if she’d lost her mind and shook his head as he put his hand over a tiny smudge of blood on her neck, his magic tingling along her skin as he effortlessly healed a shallow cut she’d accidentally given herself. Darcy tasted the explosion of sugar and cinnamon on her tongue only moments before she felt how her own strand of energy once again reached out to his, but his hand was gone the moment the cut had disappeared, and the energy pulse that had started up behind her sternum dissipated within seconds, leaving a strange feeling of emptiness behind.

‘All the best people are.’ She breathed, still feeling a little bit breathless. One corner of Loki’s mouth tilted up slightly and Darcy let out another giggle.

_What the fuck is wrong with me?! I sound like some dumb teenager... Must be the adrenaline or something..._

‘I apologise for my atrocious behaviour.’ The apology came out of nowhere, but sounded genuine, if not a bit stiff.

Darcy scrunched up her face in surprise.

_Huh? He actually said he’s sorry?! What the ffff... Okay, just roll with it..._

‘I hope you mean it, ‘cause you were acting like an asshole.’ And that was the understatement of the year.

‘You are not nothing.’

‘Good to know.’

‘I don’t want you to die.’ Somehow, Loki’s quiet voice gave the tumble of words such weight that she felt the need to look away from him. There was something there, in the meaning between the words, that she did not feel like addressing at that moment. So, she did what she did best, she deflected.

‘Well, that’s a good thing, I guess, especially when I lose every sense of self-preservation like I just did. You should hang around for a while and help me out when I do stupid stuff, make sure I don’t die or something.’ She gave his right pec a friendly fist-bump to emphasise her words. 

It earned her a puzzled look from Loki before he frowned at her.

‘You really shouldn’t do things like you did with that knife.’

‘I know. But you managed to shove your head so far up your own ass that you weren’t gonna listen to reason, and I had to shock it out of there before you left and fucked everything up.’ Shrugging, she threw him an ‘eh-whatcha-gonna-do’ expression.

‘I did not really want to leave.’

‘Good. I didn’t want you to leave, either.’

‘No?’

‘No.’

‘Alright. Then I’ll stay... for a while... at least... Make sure you don’t... do anything foolish...’ He seemed to be searching for words, and his voice trailed off as he cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away.

‘That’s nice. I’d like that.’

His green gaze flew back to her blue one. If she didn’t know better she’d say he looked hopeful.

‘Yes?’ His tone was also hopeful, so maybe she wasn’t imagining it.

‘Yes.’

‘I will behave.’

‘Thank you.’ She gave him a dazzling smile, leaving him looking a bit dazed.

Inclining his head to her, he escorted her back to the table and put his chair to rights before he sat down again next to her. He picked up his cutlery, and resumed eating his dinner as if nothing had happened. 

Darcy followed his example and polished off the last remnants of her dinner.

‘Uh... _What_ just happened?!’ Came Tony’s incredulous voice from where he was sat on the other side of the table.

Looking up from her almost empty plate, Darcy noticed that both he and Pepper looked a bit gobsmacked by the events of the last few minutes.

Darcy frowned.

‘What do you mean?’

‘ _This!_ What just happened here?’ He gestured between her and Loki.

‘Uh... Ok... So... In a nutshell... I got frustrated by you and Loki behaving like children, and I banged my head on the table a few times. Then, I bemoaned my insane brain and the way it just does not work the way it’s supposed to. Which led to me being a bit insensitive and conking Loki -who is a god, and lives for, like, a gazillion years- over the head with my mortality. Which, understandably, got him very upset, because I’m his friend and he doesn’t want me to die in what is the equivalent of a blink of the eye for him. So he told me he couldn’t handle that, and tried to leave. And I didn’t want him to go, so I dragged his stubborn arse back to the table, reassuring him that he is allowed to protect me during dangerous situations, thus ensuring my survival for a bit longer. He apologised for his shit behaviour, I accepted his apology, and now we’re finishing our dinner.’ She threw an inquiring look at Loki. ‘Right?’

Loki nodded.

‘Just about.’ He turned to Tony. ‘And we mutually decided that we’re traveling the same way for the time being.’

‘Oh, yeah. That’s right. We did.’ Darcy nodded and smiled.

‘What?! _How?!_... _How_ did you get from that burning car wreck of botched up communication and morbid homicidal, bordering on suicidal behaviour that we just witnessed to “ ** _we are besties and we’ll hang out for a while_** _”_ ** _?! HOW?!_** ’ Tony’s face was red as he threw his hands up into the air in obvious exasperation.

Pepper laid a hand on his arm to try and calm him a bit.

‘Hon... I think... I think Darcy... speaks Loki.’

‘Huh? She does _what_ now?’

‘Heh...’ Darcy snickered at the woman’s astute observation; she, herself hadn’t thought about it like that yet, but she figured the description fit. ‘Just like you speak Tony, Pepper.’ She threw the redhead a wink.

‘Ugh.’ Tony rolled his eyes and pointed at them. ‘You’re nuts. Both of you.’ Then he sighed and leaned forward; narrowing his gaze at Darcy. ‘So... _Ninety minutes, huh?_ ’ He’d apparently decided to let it go, and latched onto her claim of only having been gone for a couple of hours.

Darcy nodded and hummed.

‘Give or take an hour... or two... Time was really weird in that place, but I didn’t eat or drink anything while I was there, and when we came back, I was really thirsty, and only a little bit hungry. And seeing that I disappeared from the lab in the middle of the night, after pulling a late shift and having had a hearty shitload of Poptarts for dinner before I went to bed, I estimate it’s been only a couple of hours for me, and _not_ five years... _Or a week,_ as Loki seems to think.’ She added quickly when she saw how Loki opened his mouth to put in his five cents on how long it had been. ‘I would have been so dead if it had been either one of those time spans.’

‘Hm...’ Tony had pulled out a tablet from thin air it seemed, and was typing away furiously. ‘Significant time distortion in... wherever you were... Which didn’t affect you as much as it did him.’ He nodded at Loki distractedly, and typed in a few more digits. ‘And it _has_ been five years on our side.’ Pointing at where Morgan was still watching Paw Patrol, he shrugged. ‘Which _has_ happened chronologically, without any distortion; the proof of which is sitting right there.’ 

‘Yeah, and don’t forget to add all the spirits floating around Hel into your equation. Those thingies gave off a very weird wobbly timey wimey vibe. Like, they all had their own slow motion time-bubble. I think it affected Loki more because he’d been there longer than me.’

Loki sat up straight as she spoke to Tony.

‘You could see the dead?’ He breathed as he gazed down at her with renewed interest in his eyes.

Darcy turned her attention to him and observed how he’d narrowed his eyes at her as though he was trying to see into her.

‘Uh... If you mean those pour souls your sister cannibalised so she could feed her own power, then... Yeah... Why?’

‘Wait... You saw ghosts?’ Tony interrupted. ‘Like, real, bonafide, spirits of the deceased?!’ He sounded incredulous; tablet forgotten in his hands as he stared at her. ‘Are you sure you didn’t just have some kind of mental break-down or something?’

‘No-one can see the dead, except for the gods of the underworld.’ Loki said, continuing as if Tony hadn’t butted into the conversation.

‘Well, that’s just crap-tastic nonsense, then, because I’m just me, Darcy the human, and I could see them plenty well. Hear them, too.’ She cringed when she remembered the screeches and wails as Hela devoured their energy. ‘Their suffering. It was freaking terrible.’ Then she turned to Tony. ‘And, no, no mental break-down. I’m totally fine.’

‘She killed the Goddess of Death.’ Loki said to Tony. ‘She is no _simple_ Midgardian.’ It was clear he disagreed with Darcy’s definition of herself.

‘What? Really? She stabbed her or something? Good riddance, I’d say. I heard from Thor how she was a large catalyst to the destruction of Asgard.’

‘No, Hela was a Goddess, she does not just die from a stabbing. Darcy obliterated her with magic.’

Darcy huffed at Loki’s claim.

‘It’s _energy_. Not magic.’ Crossing her arms over her chest, she glared at him. ‘ _Science_.’

He glared right back.

‘It is magic.’

‘It’s not.’

An annoyed grunt escaped him as his hand shot out and grabbed the wrist of her right arm, pulling it towards him. With a scarily accurate precision, his thumb landed on the small disc burrowed between Yggdrasil’s roots and pressed down. Darcy felt how his power ebbed and flowed against her wrist, calling to hers.

‘ _It_ _is._ ’

The bloom of energy that slept behind her sternum blossomed open, and an answering wave of tingly power traveled down her arm towards where Loki touched the symbol in her skin. She gasped when the two forces clashed, then swirled around each other, invisible to the naked eye except for a faint glow from the small disc-shaped symbol on her wrist. Ripples of Loki’s alien energy flowed up her arm in an almost sensual caress.

‘There is great power within her, but she is somehow unable to access it in normal circumstances. The snippets she uses to manipulate your technology are just that, minuscule snippets of a greater whole that lies dormant.’ He told Tony and Pepper. ‘I do not know what will happen when it wakes up completely. Her frail Midgardian body might not be able to wield it for long before succumbing to it.’

A shiver of foreboding ran down Darcy’s spine as she stared down at where Loki held her wrist so gently between his long, dexterous fingers.

‘Or so I _thought_.’ Loki added before either she or Tony or Pepper could react to his preposterous claims.

‘What?’ Darcy squeaked, her gaze flying up to his.

‘You were able to see and hear the _dead_. Something only the most powerful gods of the underworld are capable of. Which makes me believe that you are not just a Midgardian. I no longer believe you are a human who by chance had been cursed with so much power that it might be the death of them.’

The flavour of burnt sugar and cinnamon overwhelmed her senses as Loki increased the flow of energy towards her person.

‘What... What are you doing?!’ A panic rose in her gut, taking over her surprise when the pressure behind her sternum built under the push of his power against the boundaries of hers. 

‘Proving a point.’ He sounded so nonchalant. As if his power wasn’t trying to invade her skin.

Darcy felt as if she was drowning in the sweetness of his magic when the pressure became almost painful and his energy engulfed her entire body like some sort of force field.

‘Stop. Please...’ The sound of her hoarse voice was breathy and weak. Her knees buckled slightly under the strain that kept her body in its grasp, and Loki pulled her against him to help her stay upright, but he didn’t listen to her plea. Why wouldn’t he listen?

‘Use your technology to scan her.’ Loki ordered Tony.

Stark squared his shoulders, frowning ad his old adversary. A stubborn expression graced his features.

‘Yeah. I don’t think so, Reindeer Games. You better let her go.’

‘Do it! We need to know what lies dormant inside her, before it rears its head again at a less opportune time. She was powerful enough to defeat my sister, a very powerful goddess. Even Thor and I needed the help of a fire god to do what Darcy did on her own. If she loses control of her power in a populated area it could destroy her, us, and a lot of innocent bystanders.’

Tony, who looked mighty uncomfortable with how things were unfolding, sighed, and looked slightly defeated, as if Loki’s explanation had somehow made sense to him. For once he didn’t argue, and twiddled with the settings on his tablet. Apparently, Loki had hit the right buttons where Stark was concerned. 

_Freaking stupid, sweet-talking Silvertongue!_

Darcy had lost the strength to form words and all she could do was grit her teeth together and let out a pained groan _._

‘You can’t do this! Stop! You’ll kill her!’ Pepper suddenly interrupted. Her face was a mask of horror and worry. She started toward Loki with the intention to help Darcy, but Loki raised a hand and stopped her in her tracks. 

‘Take the child and leave the house. I will not let Darcy, or your man, come to any harm... I promise.’ He said when she spluttered and fought against the power that held her back. ‘You will have to protect your child.’

Something in his features and voice must have convinced her, because she deflated, and, with one last apologetic look at Darcy, she turned around and picked up a protesting Morgan from the couch. The little girl had been mesmerised by her tv program and hadn’t yet noticed anything amiss. 

With one last, hard look at Loki and Tony, Pepper disappeared out the kitchen door and within seconds Darcy heard a car drive off into the night.

‘Stark, don your armour.’

‘Why? She disabled all my weapons.’ An almost petulant undertone wove its way through Tony’s voice. It would have made Darcy snicker if she hadn’t been feeling like insects were crawling around underneath her skin.

‘You will not need your weapons. Only your iron suit. It will protect you.’

‘From what?’

‘From us... From _her_.’ Loki nodded to where Darcy stood against him.

‘Fine.’ Tony shrugged, and within seconds he became coated in some kind of nano-technology, covering him until he stood beside them in his Iron Man suit. If Darcy hadn’t been so occupied by trying to stay conscious, she’d be terribly impressed with the tech. 

‘Now what?’ Stark asked.

‘Now we see what this girl is capable of.’

‘You sure she’ll be alright?’ Tony sounded slightly worried. ‘She’s not looking too peachy.’ His tone betrayed that he still doubted Loki’s intentions. Which did not surprise Darcy. She began to have her own serious doubts about the Asgardian prince. Doubts on if he really had her best interest at heart, or if he solely had his eyes on the strange energy that flowed through her. He’d seemed very jacked up from the power injection he’d received from her in Hel before Mew Mew had used a big part of their combined energies to open a rainbow bridge back to Earth. Maybe he was looking for another fix.

‘I will not let her come to any harm.’ Loki repeated the promise he’d made to Pepper.

It didn’t feel that way to Darcy, who had begun to sweat and tremble from the strain on her body. Still, Loki didn’t let up, pushing more of his energy against the power that had started to crackle like electricity under her skin. It hurt. A lot.

‘ _P... please... s...top.’_ She grit out the words and tried to pull herself free from Loki’s grip.

Loki’s answer was nonverbal and immediate, taking her into an immovable hold. She snarled in protest. Actually snarled. He was so much stronger than her and his manhandling of her person didn’t go down well. At all.

_Asshole!_

A wave of intense indignation traveled through her and a pained hiss escaped her when the pulsing behind her sternum reacted to the emotion. It burned so fiercely that it fanned her anger.

_How dare he do this without asking if I’m okay with it... This is the whole eye-healing fuck-up all over again! Stupid men and their stupid I-know-better-than-you attitudes!_

Another wave of anger washed over her, followed by a scorching pain that engulfed her whole body and felt disturbingly familiar. It had been the same in the cave, after she’d crispified Hela into dust. Only this time, the power feeding the pain that ricocheted through her body hadn’t come from the outside. No, this alien, writhing thing originated within herself. It hurt so much that it cut off her breath.

Gasping for air, she clawed at her chest with her free hand; panic overriding her anger.

_What’s happening?!_

‘Uh, I think you should stop now, Cernunnos.’ Tony’s alarmed voice cut through her panic. ‘She’s _really_ not looking good. My sensors are going hay-wire on her vitals. Her heartbeat is breaching the two hundred a minute boundary, and the readings on her brain activity are off the charts; she’s firing on all cylinders, and then some. And her breathing is starting to worry me.’

‘Does your machine detect any anomalies within her?’

‘You mean apart from the fact that whatever you are doing is _killing_ her?!’

‘I am _not_ killing her.’

‘Well, my “machine” here is telling me that you definitely are doing just that. If you don’t let up, she’s going to flatline and die!’

‘She will _not_.’

‘She will, dammit! There’s nothing showing up on my readings that would even come close to classifying her as anything else but human.’

‘Can you not detect her magic? It is right there, under the surface. It would appear as some sort of energy reading on your device.’

‘I know what to look for in both enhanced people and alien “visitors” alike, for fucks sake! I’ve been working with them for years now. And I’m telling you, apart from a human body in mortal distress, and your specific brand of crazy "magic", there’s _nothing_ there to detect. Now stop this crap before she kicks the bucket, you arrogant prick!’ Tony had dropped his tablet, and shoved Loki in a bid to get him to let her go. If he had been without his suit, Darcy was sure he wouldn’t have gotten any reaction out of the Asgardian, but the suit allowed him to pack a punch behind the shove, and Loki had to step back to keep his balance; pulling her with him.

The jostling caused more sparks of agony throughout her body, and she cried out in despair, wishing that she could do something to stop the torture Loki inflicted upon her.

That was when she suddenly found herself holding Mew Mew; the hammer having flown to her aid. The handle slid itself gently between the fingers of her free hand, and e lectricity sparked up her arm when she gripped it.

With an almost roar, Darcy used the hammer to tase the shit out of both Loki and Stark. Both males were thrown across the room; Loki landing against the kitchen wall with a dull thud, and Tony upending the couch in the living room before sliding to a stop in front of the tv.

‘You... You fuckin’... _ASSHOLES_!’ Darcy panted, finally able to breathe freely again after Loki’s invasive magic had dissipated. Her voice rose to an almost screech toward the end of the sentence, conveying her rage more than adequately.

‘Darcy...’ Loki began in a soothing tone as he picked himself up off the floor, holding out his hands in a placating gesture.

A growl escaped her as she pointed Mew Mew in his direction, electricity sparking along the hammer and up her arm.

‘Don’t you _DARE!_ ’ All the hurt she felt at his betrayal of her trust lay in her voice. ‘You _LIE!_ Each and every time, you _LIE!_ You promised me that you’d behave, that you’d _ask_ before doing something so invasive as you just did to me. You said you’d _protect_ me! Turns out that’s from anyone but _yourself_ , apparently.’ Angrily, she wiped away the tear that threatened to fall from her lashes. ‘Fool me once, shame on you... Fool me twice... shame on _me._ ’ Gesturing at the clothes she was wearing, she exclaimed, ‘I want nothing more from you. Take back your magic and give me back my pyjamas!’

Loki licked his lips as his eyes flicked nervously to a dangerously crackling Mew Mew, a cautious expression emerging on his features. In the background, Darcy saw how Stark hoisted himself up from behind the couch.

‘ ** _Give me back my pyjamas!_** ’ 

With a flick of his wrist, Loki caused her clothing to shift back into her sleep clothes; her boots melting away to leave her in her bare feet on the wood of the cabin floor.

He made a movement to step towards her.

‘Darcy, I’m sorry...’

Oh, how she _hated_ that hypnotic placating tone.

‘ _No!_... No! You don’t get to apologise. Not anymore.’ Walking backwards to the kitchen door, she kept her eye on both men. 

Tony had rid himself of his helmet, and looked remorseful, but he stayed quiet. 

**_He’s_ ** _a smart asshole._

‘Where can I find Thor?’ She directed her question to him as she opened the door and stepped backwards onto the veranda, breathing in the fresh, woodsy air of a forest waking up to Spring time.

‘What?’ 

‘Thor... Where can I find him? Is he on Earth?’

‘Uh, yeah. He is. Last I heard, he was in Norway. The place is called Tønsberg... They call it New Asgard now.’

‘Right... Thanks.’ With that, she turned around and hopped down the steps, ignoring the tingly energy that pushed almost inquisitively against the soles of her bare feet when she came into contact with the dirt of the forest path that ran past the cabin. Distractedly, she noticed that it tasted different from Hel’s energy. More like wild chestnut than mossy green. It also wasn’t as Hell-bent - _teehee, Hel-bent_ \- on making an acquaintance with her own energy; feeling more laid back than Hel ever had. 

This made the part of her mind that wasn't dealing with the immediate problem of two too-curious-for-their-own-good men wonder why she hadn’t ever felt the Earth like this before. Had something changed within her when she was sucked away from the lab, into the Net, and then spit out in Hel? Had she maybe changed on a molecular level?

_Hmmm... Maybe it’s worth a look... later..._

Behind her, the kitchen door clanged against the wood of the cabin as the two infuriating males followed her outside, although they did keep a safe distance between themselves and her.

_Smart assholes. Both of them..._ Of course, she already knew that. But still. 

‘What are you going to do?’ Tony asked, sounding sceptical. ‘You really think you can leave using the hammer? Without the help of any Asgardian princes?’ He nodded to Loki who was silently stood beside him with a regretful expression on his face.

‘Well, yes, I do. I’m going to try and return Mew Mew to her six foot four inch alien caretaker, and if that doesn’t work, then I’ll look up Natasha and see if I can stay with her for the next few weeks, while I figure out what to do next. I’m sure _she_ won’t start experimenting on me the minute I walk in the door.’ Giving a chastised looking Tony a pointed look, she made her way to the clearing between the cabin and the barn, making sure that her departure wouldn’t damage any structures or trees.

_‘Okay, Honey, please tell me you still have enough juice in you to get us to Norway...’_ The quiet whisper caused the hammer to hum happily in her hand.

A small, triumphant smile pulled at Darcy’s lips at the sentient weapon’s happiness at getting to “see” Thor again soon.

Darcy wrinkled her nose at the two men on the veranda and flicked a small salute their way.

‘See ya.’ She said just before she disappeared between one breath and the next; leaving only a handful of rapidly extinguishing rose-golden sparkles behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Ello again! Fancy seeing you down here! 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this new chapter! :D
> 
> If you liked, please leave the Muse some Kudos (we'll even take a comment saying 'Kudos' of you've already hit that Kudos button, we're not picky :) ).
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	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone plays stowaway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here I am again... 
> 
> What? Two updates in one week?! 
> 
> Why, yes, here's one of 4500+ words.
> 
> Enjoy! :D

**Chapter 12**

 

End of April 2023, Norway... Probably.

 

The moment she felt the familiar tug of entering Mew Mew’s version of the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, a large, hard body folded itself around her; wrapping her up in its arms and holding onto her tightly as it went along for the ride.

It startled her and made her lose her focus; causing her to jerk herself -and her unexpected cargo- out of the wormhole somehow. How much too soon she exited, she didn’t know, but she landed herself ankle deep in freezing cold snow above the tree-line on the steep slope of a mountain. At least it was cold enough to make her suspect she _might_ be in the right country. And at least she hadn’t landed her ass in the Atlantic. 

The feeling she got from Mew Mew was one of exhaustion, and she understood that the weapon wouldn’t be able to transport anyone for a while. Apparently, inter-dimensional travel did that to you when you were the conduit. Especially when transporting two people at once, and one of them was a giant of a man. Nothing do be done there, then. Looked like she’d be walking from here on out.

Before she went on to find out which country she crashed into, though, there was something else she needed to deal with. Or, should she say, _someone_ else.

‘Mother... **_Fucker!_** ’ She hissed at the dark-haired man in front of her as she tried to regain her bearings on the steep slope after she’d forcefully removed herself from Loki’s embrace. Or, more precisely, after he’d let go of her when she pulled away from him. ‘What the hell are you doing?!’

‘I’m keeping my promise to you.’ He said simply, not even looking apologetic.

‘And which one of the _lies_ would that be?’ Her biting tone did nothing to change his neutral expression.

‘We travel together for the time being and I will protect you from “doing stupid stuff” and, if you do get up to foolish things, “make sure you don’t die or something”.’ He echoed her own words back at her, and it pissed her off even more.

‘No.’ Pointing at him with a quietly snoozing Mew Mew, she spat out the word. ‘I don’t want you hanging around me anymore. You are more hazardous to my health than _anything_ I could get myself into.’ Turning away, she started finding her way down the slope, locating rocky spots which didn’t look too sharp and unforgiving between the patches of melting snow; placing her feet carefully. She figured the biggest chance she had at finding human habitation was down the mountain.

‘What are you doing?

Whirling around to face him again with the intention to let him know that she didn’t have to explain herself to him, she almost lost her footing, and wobbled dangerously on a very slippery patch of rock. Within the blink of an eye, she found herself in Loki’s arms again as he steadied her and then picked her up effortlessly, bridal style. In her shock, she let go of Mew Mew, who fell to the snow with a dull thud, giving no reaction. 

_Great. No help there._

‘What are _you_ doing?!’ Her offended tone caused Loki to frown at her.

‘I am making sure that you don’t kill yourself with your ill-advised traipsing down a mountain on your bare feet, in cold weather, through snow and ice, and without any protective clothing.’

‘Put me down!’

‘No. You will get frostbite on your feet.’

Darcy wriggled around like a fish trying to escape its captor, but Loki wouldn’t budge and held onto her even tighter.

‘Let. me. _go!_ ’

‘No. This stubborn behaviour qualifies as foolish. You will hurt yourself if you carry on like this.’

‘Would you _stop_ this hypocritical _crap_? Ten minutes ago, you didn’t care _one iota_ for my wellbeing. You’re only after this stupid energy that’s inside me.’ When Loki took a breath and tried to speak, she was sure it was to contradict her claim and she cut him off before he had the chance to sweet-talk her. ‘Don’t you dare deny it!’

‘I am not denying it. But it’s not for the reason you think.’

‘It isn’t? ‘Cause you could’ve fooled me.’ She bit out, scowling up at him from her position in his arms. It wasn’t exactly an authoritative position inspiring obedience. Realising this, she started wriggling around again. ‘Put me _down_.’

‘No. You will stay where you are.’

‘Like hell I will...’ She growled. ‘Let. Go.’

‘Will you allow me to dress you properly?’

‘What? No! You’re gonna keep that manipulative energy stuff far away from me. You hear me?!’

‘Well, then you’re not going anywhere.’

Huffing in pissed off annoyance, Darcy crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at him.

‘You’re _impossible!_ ’

Loki had the audacity to roll his eyes at her.

‘And you are an over-curious kitten throwing a hissy-fit. One who has a proclivity for finding herself out of her depth in dangerous situations; throwing herself head-first into things she has no business being a part of.’

‘Excuse you?! I remember very clearly how _NOT_ out of my depth I was. So much so that I ended up saving _your_ ass, and freeing you from a crispy witch who had you reclined impotently against a soul-sucking rock for _months_ , oh high and mighty prince of _Arseguard!_ If anything... _You_ were out of _your_ depth!’

‘And _who_ helped _you_ when you lost control of the magic inside you? _Who_ saved _your_ life when the power threatened to consume you?’

‘Oh, _shut up!_ We _both_ know you were after that weird energy from the beginning! And this stupid lil’, _gullible_ kitten just handed you your juice-up on a silver platter... Well, if you want any more of it, you’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead heart, because you ain’t getting anything out of me, ever again.’ Her eyes flashed dangerously as she poked him in the chest to emphasise her words.

‘I do not want your magic. My forcing it out of you earlier was not to...’ He seemed to catch himself from saying something he didn’t want to disclose, and continued down another route. ‘Besides, there are much more... _pleasurable_ ways to voluntarily share one’s magic than the way it happened in Hel, or in Stark’s cabin.’ A very suggestive grin flitted over Loki’s face, and Darcy spluttered, a blush traveling up her neck from the unexpected flirtation. Hello, other route, indeed.

_What the hell was that?!_

She didn’t fall for the distraction, though. Ignoring it, she plowed on.

‘If you don’t want it, then _why_ did you just force me through that agonising pain?! Are you saying that you only started it just because you wanted to? Because that’s just all sorts of fucked up, dude!’ Looking up at him with searching eyes, Darcy huffed as she narrowed them at him. ‘Or is this _another_ one of your manipulations?’

‘No! I did _not_ do it without reason. And I am _not_ manipulating you.’

‘Right... Let me be the judge of that. I’m mighty curious to know _why_ you pushed my body to the brink of death... _without my consent...’_ She couldn’t help but emphasise those last three words, and she felt a twinge of satisfaction when she saw him flinch minutely. _‘_ What was so important that you felt the need to _torture_ me like that?’ A tremble was clearly audible in her voice, and she hated herself for sounding so weak.

‘I was so sure...’ His voice trailed off as he stared into the distance; his features shuttered.

‘Of what?’

Her question pulled him back to the here and now, and he blinked before his gaze found hers.

‘I was so sure that the combination of your magic, your ability to see the dead, and having the strength to defeat Hela all on your own, made you something more than you appeared to be. Something other than Midgardian. But when Stark couldn’t get any reading on you with his machine, except for the one which said that you are completely human... I...’ He swallowed. ‘I don’t know how I could have been _so_ wrong. I could sense the power inside you, and still, he saw nothing, so I pushed harder. There had to be something he was missing...’

‘Why is it so important to you that I might be something other than human if, as you said, you’re not interested in my power?’ Darcy couldn’t for the life of her fathom why he’d be so invested if it wasn’t about the energy that coursed through her veins.

‘I... Um...’ 

For the second time since she’d met him, Loki hesitated with his words, and he seemed... subdued, and unsure of himself.

_Is this real, or is he manipulating me?_

‘You what?’

_‘I don’t want you to die.’_ He said quietly, and looked away, face closed off. Then, a shell-shocked expression appeared on his face, as if something - which she wasn’t privy to- had suddenly occurred to him.

Darcy’s eyes widened in realisation at his whispered words.

_Is_ **_that_ ** _what this whole shit-show was all about?!_

Could it be that obvious?

‘You were trying to will some sort of super human, or even partly immortal trait onto me, because that would mean I’d have a chance of living longer than my measly human life-span?!’ She couldn’t help the incredulous tone of her voice. It was just such a messed up way of thinking... Which was also such a _Loki_ way of handling things... Or, _not_ handling an inevitable outcome -her death-, as it were. ‘You _hurt_ me, Loki. _Intentionally!_ ’

Loki stayed quiet, looking regretful. 

_Yeah, you better regret that, you twisted bastard!_

‘So, what you’re saying is that you tried to murder me to death with torture because you want me to live _longer_?... You _do_ know that one cancels the other out, right?’ Darcy’s gobsmacked levels had just passed maximum and she was so speechless from his twisted brand of reasoning that she even forgot to protest him still refusing to let her stand on her own two -very cold- feet.

‘I wasn’t trying to kill you!’

‘You weren’t? It sure felt that way from where I’m standing!’

‘I was trying to call forth your magic from where it’s somehow locked away inside you, so that it would bond with your body the way it’s supposed to and make you stronger; more able to defend yourself, and potentially give you a prolonged life-span. But all it did was kill you faster. It seems I was mistaken where you are concerned. You are just a Midgardian. Your body is not built to wield such power. If your magic ever broke free completely, it would destroy you.’ This time he did look her in the eye, and the raw vulnerability, pain, and regret-bordering-on-mourning she saw there took her breath away. In contrast to his pulling away from her in the cabin after she’d so carelessly dropped her mortality into his lap, so to speak, this time he held her gaze with his without hesitation.

Rationally, she knew that he’d only known her for a couple of hours -or a couple of days, if she went with _his_ account of Hel’s happenings-, but no-one had _ever_ looked at her the way Loki did in that moment. Not even her old love interests, or her bestest of friends. 

Somehow, in some way, she’d become so important to him -whether it was as a friend, or something... else- that he was now terribly afraid of losing her to her own mortality, and he apparently was prepared to break all the rules in the universe to prevent such a thing from happening.

Which, even if it did give her a slight case of the butterflies in her tummy - _No! Bad Darcy!_ -, was not a healthy way to deal with... anything, really. Talk about a busted up moral compass... Sheesh. The end did _not_ justify the means, for fucks sake.

‘If only Idun’s orchard hadn’t been destroyed... One of her apples would have given you the strength to wield your magic, along with giving you a life-span as long as mine...’ Loki’s pondering broke through her worrisome thoughts. ‘I wonder if one of the fruits has survived... somewhere.’ Evidently, his ever mercurial mind had already begun exploring other strategies to avoid Darcy’s inevitable ending.

Right. Time to cause a distraction before he dreamt up a plan that ended up destroying an entire civilisation or something.

‘Um... Loki? Can you please put me down now? I’m growing cold, and we need to get moving if we want to find somewhere warm and cosy before nightfall. Otherwise I’ll catch a cold or something. Not all of us are built to withstand the freezing Northern weather wearing just our inside clothes, you know.’

Loki blinked, turned his attention to her and sighed, repeating his condition for her release.

‘Will you at least allow me to clothe you, then? It’s foolish to traipse around in your sleep clothes at these temperatures. You’ll catch more than a cold if you keep it up. Surely you must see merit in wearing weather appropriate attire?'

Darcy grumbled and threw up her hands in a frustrated gesture. She hated that his argument made sense to her freezing cold... everything. An involuntary shiver traveled through her, and she capitulated. _Dammit_.

‘Ugh, fine. Do what you want.’ 

‘Oh, little kitten, the _fun_ I could have had with that kind of permission... You are much too rash with giving your consent.’ Loki drawled as he gently lowered her to her feet.

Quickly stepping away from him, Darcy pointed a warning finger.

‘Don’t you d-’

She was stopped by a green-golden wave of his power traveling up her body; encasing her in the now familiar leather-like, charcoal grey, armoured suit with the rose gold accents. Only this time her feet had been encased in fur-lined boots, a winter version of the boots she’d worn earlier, and her bodice clad torso had been covered by a fitted, dark green wool coat with grey and white fur trimmings at the hem and along the edges of her sleeves. It also had a thick, grey and white fur collar that was so wide, it completely covered her shoulders and part of her upper back.

Awed by the high quality of the garment, Darcy let her fingers slide along the rose gold buttons which held the coat closed. Each button had an intricate filigree Yggdrasil tree on its surface. 

The fur at her wrist caught her attention.

‘Is this _real_ fur?’ She asked, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

Loki, who had donned his own black Asgardian armour, complemented by a dark green fur-lined cloak, looked at her with confusion in his eyes.

‘What else would it be?’

‘I mean, did animals have to die to make this?’

‘No... I _conjured_ this. With my _magic_.’ He talked slowly, as if talking to an uncomprehending child.

‘Oh... So you didn’t magic it onto me from someone’s Asgardian closet or something?’ She wiggled her fingers at him to mimic the “magic” part.

‘No. There are no more Asgardian wardrobes. Asgard has been destroyed.’

‘Right... So... No animals were killed or hurt to make my clothes... You are absolutely _sure_ this is cruelty-free fur?’

‘Yes.’ Loki looked like he wasn’t exactly sure about her sanity, but he indulged her none the less.

Darcy sighed in relief.

‘Great.’ She said, and picked up Mew Mew. ‘Thanks for the coat and the boots. I’m feeling warmer already.’

He inclined his head to her.

‘You are welcome.’

‘Do not think for one second you’re in the clear, though, Trickster.’ She warned him with a frown, because he was looking just a little bit too relieved to her tastes, at her acceptance of his gift. ‘My body and mind still ache from what you did, and my trust in you is pretty non-existent at this moment.’

His expression sobered, and he nodded.

‘Understood... And, Darcy?’

‘Yeah?’

‘I _am_ sorry.’ 

He _did_ look very contrite.

‘Right... Well, keep this mistake in mind for the next time you feel the inclination to torture someone almost to death on a hunch, or interfere with any part of their life or body without their consent. Hopefully it will stop you from making such piss-poor decisions in the future.’

The silence that fell between them felt awkward, but Darcy didn’t look away from his rueful gaze; keeping her expression stern and showing him that she was still angry with him. Eventually, he nodded again, and sighed, being the first one to avert his eyes.

‘Okay, now that’s been sort of resolved, how about we make our way down the mountain and see if there’s anywhere we can find shelter for the night.’ Although it was still bright out, the sun had passed its zenith, and she wasn’t sure how long the days lasted in this place. Better be safe than sorry. She had no desire to be caught out in the freezing night and be forced to spend it outside, no matter how comfy and cosy her new clothes were.

‘New Asgard is about a four hour walk that way.’ Loki pointed towards a valley that lay to the North-West of their position on the mountain.

Turning to him with her eyebrows raised in surprise, Darcy made a gesture of exasperation.

‘And how do you know _that_?’

He shrugged.

‘I sense Asgard’s residual magic. It’s faint, but distinguishable.’

‘Huh... A built in GPS... Handy.’ She gestured for him to walk in front of her down the narrow, barely visible animal trail that led away from where they stood. ‘Lead the way, homing pigeon.’

Frowning at hearing the strange moniker, Loki opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to change his mind at the last second. Instead, he held out his right hand to her.

Staring at it, Darcy wrinkled her nose and lifted Mew Mew onto her shoulder, while she debated taking it or not. She was pretty sure it was only meant as a courteous gesture, but after what had happened to her not an hour before, she’d become cautious when Loki came into the mix. 

With doubt chomping away at her soul she looked up at him. His gaze held both a sombre understanding and an infinite regret when he saw the uncertainty and fear written all over her face.

His eyes roved over her expression for a couple of seconds more, and then he seemed to come to a decision; a determined resolve becoming visible on his features.

‘I am so, so very sorry for what I did. It was a horrid malefaction I forced upon you, and I beg your forgiveness... I promise I will _never_ hurt you again; not your body, and not your spirit. I will protect you from any and all who seek to harm you, even if that means protecting you from myself.’ Taking a deep breath, he swallowed laboriously, and knelt down in front of her. ‘This is my vow to you, Darcy Lewis. I swear it on my life _and_ on my death.’ Bowing his head, he held a large, intricately decorated knife up to her with both his hands. 

Wide-eyed, Darcy stared at the very sharp and deadly looking weapon. It was of a terrifying beauty. 

_Where the fudge did that thing suddenly come from?_

‘You may strike me down with this dagger if I ever break my vow. I will not stop you, for my life will be forfeit from that moment on.’ He raised his head and took her free hand in his, slipping the handle of the dagger into her palm and wrapping her fingers around it. ‘Take it. It is yours.’

‘Oh... Uh... I... Thank you.’ Completely flummoxed by the unexpected oath, Darcy gripped the hilt tightly. 

A shock of power went up her arm, straight into her heart, and then settled in a warm, comforting glow along her skin. She gasped at the same time as Loki let out a pained groan and grabbed the left side of his chest.

‘What did you _do_?’ It hadn’t hurt her like it seemed to have done to Loki, but still a panic reared its ugly head inside her gut, and nasty suspicion crept into her mind. She just couldn’t help it after everything that had happened to her because of his actions.

‘It’s just... my vow. I am... bound by it now.’ Loki panted, and stumbled to his feet, rubbing his chest with the heel of his hand.

‘What?! You bound us together with some godforsaken magic mumbo jumbo, _and you didn’t even ask me if I was okay with that?!_ ’ Rage bubbled up where only seconds before there had been panic.

Loki took a step back and held up his hands, an alarmed expression flitting over his features.

‘ _No!_ No, I did not do that! My vow only goes one way. _I_ am bound to protect _you._ Not the other way around. I wouldn’t do that to you. _Never_ the other way around.’

That unexpected confession took the wind right out of her sails, and she let her arms fall strengthless to her sides; one hand gripping the dagger, and the other still holding onto Mew Mew.

_‘What?’_ She whispered, looking up at him with wide, uncomprehending eyes. _‘Why... Why would you do that?’_

‘I have wronged you in a horrific and unforgivable way, while _you_ have saved me from my prison, from torture, _and_ from the realm I had been cursed to roam in death. Along the way, however short it may have been, you have shown me nothing but kindness, understanding, and trust. You have been truthful, spirited, and completely without agenda, and I, in my selfish arrogance and utterly boorish sense of entitlement, have hurt you beyond repair and put your trust to shame. Nothing I could do would ever make it right, but I made this oath to give back some semblance of the trust I so foolishly squandered.’

All Darcy could do was stand there, eyes wide, and mouth slack with surprise. Just as she thought she had him figured out, he did something completely unexpected. He changed the rules of the game... Hell, he changed the whole game... No, he changed the entire freaking universe the original game originated from.

Except... It wasn’t a game. Not this time. She’d seen the hesitance in him before he’d knelt before her, along with the steely determination. He’d known the vow would bind him to her, and probably make him susceptible to changes in her physical wellbeing with him having taken on the responsibility for her safety through a magical bond. 

Would the magic also force him to keep her happy along with keeping her safe? She hoped not. While she was an over-all happy person, like everyone else she also had her days of feeling meh, or angry, or sad. And then she wasn’t even considering the days before and during her period.

A saddening thought suddenly flashed across her mind. _He practically enslaved himself to me._ The realisation hit her hard, and fell onto her stomach like a boulder, while simultaneously her whole body experienced a wave of cold dread.

Loki immediately reacted to her physical reaction.

‘What is wrong?’ He looked her over for anything out of the ordinary, and when he couldn’t find anything amiss, he stooped over, took her face in his hands and caught her gaze with his. ‘Darcy, tell me.’ 

She just stood there, frozen in her feelings of dread and guilt.

‘Darcy...’

‘I... I don’t want this.’ She swallowed as she tried to rid herself of the nausea she felt. ‘You... I... I don’t want you to do this to yourself. No-one should be chained to another person, whether those chains are visible or not. It’s not right. I don’t want you to be bound to me in what basically is a magical form of serfdom. It’s _not_ right.’

‘And that is why I trust you with it.’ 

‘What?’

‘The oath I gave you is not one taken lightly by my people. Usually a bond of trust and friendship, and sometimes even love, has already been forged over many years before two or more people undertake the oath I’ve given you. I trust you not to take advantage of the bond... of me. And by putting all my trust in you I hope I can give you back some of your trust in me.’

‘This is too much, Loki. I can’t accept this... this gift. I’m not worthy of it. It’s too much... I didn’t free you from Hela’s chains just for you to turn around and indenture yourself to me. It’s wrong!’ Her whole being revolted against the idea of having him beholden to her, and she shivered as she bodily reacted to the revulsion she felt.

‘No _you_ are wrong. I can’t think of anyone more worthy of this than you. You have saved me from an eternity of misery and agony. You have given me a new lease on life, a new start for a lost man, and for that alone I owe you a debt that can never be repaid. Please, allow me my reparations for my atrocious misstep; no matter how insufficient they may be.’ Loki gently stroked her cheekbones with his thumbs; his eyes pleading with her to accept what he offered. ‘ _Please, Darcy_.’

The whispered plea, combined with the warmth in his beautiful green eyes slowly chipped away at her resistance. She sniffled, and blinked furiously to get rid of the tears that had been welling up in her eyes. 

How could she refuse him when he had recognised his mistake and wanted to make up for it? Binding himself to her may have been an extreme measure, but she also knew the society he’d been brought up in was one of extremes -of life and death, of honour and battle, and of cruel punishment-, and it had warped his perception of what would be acceptable as atonement for harming an innocent.

‘I hate this.’ She said from between clenched teeth.

‘I know.’

‘Your head is fucked up.’

‘It is.’

‘I hate _this_.’’

‘I know.’

‘I hate your stupidly clever way with words.’

A small twitch at the corner of his mouth betrayed Loki’s relief when he realised she was about to cave to his supplication.

‘I know.’

‘I _hate_ this.’ She repeated for good measure.

‘I know.’

‘And I hate _you_.’

‘I know.’ 

‘You _utter_ asshole.’ Darcy dropped both the dagger and Mew Mew to the ground, and wrapped her arms around Loki’s neck, feeling how his strong arms folded around her as he hoisted her up against him, while her lips met his halfway, in an almost desperate clashing of mouths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm... What a couple of crackpots... 
> 
> Kudos and Comments are very much appreciated. They let me know I'm not screaming into the void. Oh, and they feed the Muse. Very important. Otherwise she starts gnawing away on the furniture, and do you have any idea what a pain it is to get Muse teethmarks and drool out of the upholstery? Urgh. 
> 
> Cheers! :D


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot woot!
> 
> 3 updates within 8 days... I am on a rooooolllllll!!! :D
> 
> Enjoy this outing of 6700+ words. ^_^
> 
> XO

**Chapter 13**

 

 

End of April 2023, halfway through a wooded, and flippin’ impassable valley between a couple of stupidly steep and craggy mountains, Norway.

 

The silence that stretched between them as they struggled to find their way through what was essentially a wintery forested wasteland -Spring definitely hadn’t yet gotten a solid foot on the ground this far north-, was incredibly awkward and at the same time charged with unresolved sexual tension. That was the only way Darcy could describe it.

An hour or two earlier, they had ended up in a snowdrift in a tangle of arms and legs, after she had caused Loki to take a step back in reaction to the enthusiasm she’d put into slamming her mouth over his, and then climbing him like a tree. He’d somehow tripped over Mew Mew -Darcy hadn’t flung the hammer so violently that the weapon had landed all the way over there, had she?-, and had fallen backwards into quite the deep snowdrift, taking her with him; the walls of snow standing up around them reaching to almost three feet in height. The incident had brought their heated snogging to a very wet -not in a good way, sadly-, cold, and painful end, both literally _and_ figuratively. 

In her haste to scramble up out of the swamp of snow they’d found themselves in, she’d kneed Loki in the groin. Hard. Which had resulted in her repeatedly apologising, while trying to remove herself from his prostrate body, accidentally kneeing him in the family jewels _again_. 

After he’d somewhat recovered from her clumsy actions, Loki had assured her he was fine, and had freed himself -infinitely more gracefully than she had done- from the snowdrift. 

For some strange, unspoken reason they had both tried to ignore what had transpired between them, and, after a couple of awkward chuckles and sideways glances while they rid themselves from most of the snow that had stuck to their hair and clothes, they had started down the trail that had taken them into this narrow valley full of obstacles. Large boulders, high shrubbery, and fallen trees hindered their progress substantially.

It was nearly impossible to navigate, and the silence that hung between them as Loki went in front, leading their little procession, clearing the way as well as he could, with her scrambling along behind him, gave her too much time to reminisce on _the kiss_. Her face heated up when she thought back to it. What the hell had she been thinking, kissing him after all the fucked up stuff that had happened between them?!

But that was just it, wasn’t it? 

She _hadn’t_ been thinking. She’d been _reacting_. Reacting to her own messed up psyche which had been on it’s very own hormonal oh-my-god-I-almost-died-let’s-have-sex rampage. Reacting to the rollercoaster of emotions and physical experiences she’d been through in the past day.

Had it only been a day? 

It seemed so much longer.

Just thinking about it made her feel knackered.

Or maybe that was because she hadn’t had any sleep for the past forty-plus hours. And _at least_ two-thirds of those forty-plus hours had started five years before the date they’d emerged on several hours earlier.

_Wrap your head around that!... Urgh._

She yawned behind her hand as she made to step over a thick branch that lay over the narrow path they were following.

No wonder she was dizzy with exhaustion. She needed at least a good solid ten hours of sleep to feel human again.

One of the smaller side-branches caught on her boot when she lifted her foot to clear the large tree-branch, and she went sprawling. Mew Mew slipped out of her hand and slid a few feet down the path until she came to a stop against the heel of Loki’s boot. The jostling movements elicited nothing more than a drowsy hum from the hammer.

Thankfully, Darcy hadn’t still been holding the dagger Loki had gifted her, and therefore she no longer ran the risk of accidentally stabbing herself to death if she fell. It had found a place in its newly conjured leg... holster? _whatever_ , and was safely tucked away against her thigh, under her coat.

‘Ouch.’ She groaned as she tried to push herself up with her stinging hands. Looked like she’d scraped them again, but only lightly, because the trampled snow had slightly cushioned her fall.

A pair of strong hands took hold of her upper arms, and hoisted her to her feet.

‘You are a walking disaster. _How_ have you survived this long?’ Loki’s admonishment made her grumble. She was tired, and despite the continuous walking she was growing cold. Probably because she was so worn out. Her body had trouble keeping her warm, even when wrapped up in layers of wool and fur.

‘I tase everyone who freaks me out.’ The flippant retort was followed by another yawn. ‘Consider this your first and last warning.’

After a soft chuckle, Loki looked at her inquisitively, took in her half-closed eyes and pale face, and frowned.

‘You are asleep on your feet. It’s no wonder you have trouble keeping upright. How long has it been since you last rested?’

‘’S okay, I can manage.’ Darcy tried to slip past him to pick up Mew Mew and resume their trek, but Loki stepped into her path, effectively stopping her forward motion.

_Fuck._

‘Darcy, how long?’ His voice suddenly had that hypnotic quality that made her want to punch him in the face, because it had the power to persuade her to spill her deepest, darkest secrets to him, in spite of him not even asking about those. Hell, she didn’t even _have_ deep, dark secrets, but that’s how much his voice sometimes affected her. 

_Must be the magic or something... I bet he uses it to get people to say things they don’t wanna talk about... Asshole._

She rubbed her nose, avoided his eyes, counted backwards from ten, and quelled the desire to spill the beans on her messed up sleep schedule. Instead, she skirted around it.

‘Dunno... Apparently, on Earth, it’s been five years, give or take a week or so.’ When she saw Loki’s unamused face and raised eyebrow, her gaze shot to his, and she capitulated. _Urgh, I’m so spineless._ ‘Oh, alright. Not counting the weird time jump, I guess it’s been about... just under two days; forty-four... or forty-six hours. Somewhere in that range. If you don’t count the half hour of sleep I got before I was sucked into Hel.’ 

_Way to go, Darce. Why don’t you just give him all your important passwords, too, while you’re at it? I’m sure he’d love to get his hands on Shieldra’s secrets, or Stark’s... Fuck._ Admonishing herself silently, she pulled a face at her own stupidly quick surrender.

‘How much sleep does an average Midgardian need at a time?’ 

Thank heavens Loki hand’t been privy to her thoughts. His questions might have been much less innocent if he had, she was sure of it.

‘Seven to eight hours is common. But some people are okay with six, while others only need fo-’

‘At which intervals?’

‘I don’t know why that’s so important. Jane and I never-’

‘Darcy...’

She sighed defeatedly. 

_Stupid, mesmerising voice..._

‘Hm... Every sixteen to seventeen hours, or so.’

‘Are you telling me that you have missed two of your sleep cycles?’ 

_Wow, he’s fast with maths._

‘Uh... Yeah, I guess so.’

‘How are you even still awake?’

‘I’m kinda used to it? When Jane went on a science bender, we sometimes didn’t sleep for three days. And ever since I drove my ass to the Avengers facility, I’ve been working day and night on my Net, so I didn’t get much sleep then, either; or even before that, because driving through an apocalyptic USA, alone, is not conductive to one’s sleep pattern either.’

‘How much sleep have you had in the, say, past five or six days?’

‘Uh... twenty-eigh-’

‘You are lying.’

‘Twenty-tw-’

‘Lie.’

‘Ninetee-’

‘ _Lie._ ’

‘Jesus! Will you stop that?!’

‘Then stop lying to me.’

Annoyance coloured her voice when she answered him honestly.

‘Fine. Fourteen hours. I’ve had fourteen hours of sleep in the past five days. _Happy now?!_ ’ 

‘Not particularly, no.’

She started to push past him, cursing under her breath, and he turned with her as she looked up at him challengingly. 

‘I’ll sleep when we find shelter in New Asgard. I’ll even stay in bed for the whole eight hours, alright?’ Picking up Mew Mew, Darcy stomped away, in her irritation missing a patch of ice on her path. An undignified squeak escaped her when she slipped and landed on her butt. 

‘Shit!’ She exclaimed loudly, tears springing to her eyes, and slapped her free hand to the ground in frustration. It made her palm smart like nobody’s business, but at least it softened the sting of her hurt pride a bit. She’d either be black and blue by the time they found civilisation, or dead from hypothermia.

Once again, Loki was there to pick her up and put her back onto her feet.

‘As I said. You need rest.’ His voice was gentle, and not triumphant as she had expected. 

Darcy’s shoulders sagged in defeat at his mild intonation. She knew he was right. _Dammit._

‘I _know._ ’ Looking around at their wooded environment, she sighed. ‘But I don’t see anywhere we can take shelter for the night. Do you? We’ll just have to keep walking until we get there.’

‘I will carry you while you rest.’ 

The statement came as a complete surprise to her, and she shot him a perplexed look.

‘Excuse me?’

He took off his cloak and made it disappear with a flick of his wrist. Then he turned his back to her, crouched down, and looked at her over his shoulder.

‘Hop on.’

‘What?... Like a piggyback ride?’

‘We used to call it “tame the bilgesnipe”, and I think it was a bit wilder than what you mean, but, yes, like that.’

‘You can’t be serious.’

‘I am.’

‘But-’

‘You’re too tired to go much further, and I want to reach New Asgard before nightfall. Temperatures can drop very quickly once the sun has set, and I don’t want you to expire during the night. Now, hop on.’

‘I’m too heavy to carry all that way. You can’t-’

A startled cry escaped her when Loki moved quicker than she could comprehend, and grabbed Mew Mew, lifting her up with Darcy still attached, as she was holding onto the hammer’s handle; leather strap secured around her wrist. He held them both up effortlessly with one hand; Darcy coming almost nose to nose with him at his own height.

‘You hold me to Midgardian standards. I am _not_ Midgardian. You’d do well remembering that.’

‘Okay.’ She squeaked; grabbing onto Mew Mew’s handle with her other hand, too, because she was starting to slip.

Loki lowered her to her feet and sent her one last hard look.

‘Good. Now, hop on.’ He crouched down, and Darcy scrambled up onto his back without another word of protest.

_Looks like I insulted his manly strength and stamina... Whoopsie._

Now that she wasn’t dangling more than a foot above the ground, she had to suppress a snicker at his sudden male posturing. He may not have been Midgardian, but, apparently, males didn’t differ all that much in their pride throughout the universe. Biting her lip to fight a smile, Darcy wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders; feeling the cords of muscle move when he wrapped his arms around her thighs and hoisted her up a bit higher as he stood up straight.

‘Give me Mjölnir. It will be more comfortable for both of us if she doesn’t bounce against my chest each time I take a step.’

‘Oh, uh, okay.’ Slipping her hand from the strap, she handed him the weapon.

After securing the strap around his own wrist, and holding the handle just so that it didn’t poke into Darcy’s leg, he turned his head to look at her.

‘Are you ready to go?’

She snorted her amusement.

‘Are you asking _me_? _You’re_ the one doing all the heavy lifting here.’

Loki pulled a face that conveyed his disdain for her choice of words.

‘Nothing heavy about it.’ Then he took her legs in a firmer grasp, and flashed her his teeth in a challenging grin. ‘Hold on tight.’

Tightening her arms around him, Darcy heeded his warning. Which had been a good call on her part, because when he started moving, it was not with a strolling gait. It wasn’t even a trot. 

Apparently, her verbally questioning his stamina had made him decide to go full throttle; very obvious in his determination to flaunt his strength and speed as a _not_ -Midgardian. 

_Show-off..._

She had to admit, though, the way he ran so smoothly that it hardly jostled her where she was pressed up against his back, and the way he leapt over obstacles that showed up on their path, as if they were no more than pebbles and blades of grass, instead of snow and ice covered boulders and trees, was terribly impressive. He also ran as if he wasn’t carrying her on his back. His lithe form moved with ease, winding its way through the obstacle littered valley, like one of those parkour  runners she’d seen on tv once. After she’d recovered from her surprise at his sudden full speed take-off, she started to enjoy the ride.

‘This. Is. Sooooo awesome!’ She said next to Loki’s ear, and laughed elatedly; letting out a joyous ‘Whooooohoo!’ 

Beneath her, she could feel Loki’s own laugh as it vibrated through his body.

‘Enjoying yourself?’

‘Immensely. Why didn’t you propose this sooner? It would’ve saved us so much time!’

‘Would you have accepted the offer when we’d just arrived here? After what happened at Stark’s cabin?’ 

_Hm, he has a point._

‘Probably not, no.’ She conceded.

Loki hummed at that, and said nothing more, focusing on the vague trail he followed.

After that, they both fell silent until almost an hour later, when they made it to where the path slowly climbed again and the valley suddenly widened. They broke through some shrubbery and found themselves on an ice and snow free asphalt road. It was clearly a relatively frequently used road for it to have been de-iced like this.

Loki came to a sudden stop at the unexpected change in surface, and Darcy had to brace herself on his back, otherwise she would have flown off and most probably face-planted against the asphalt.

‘Whoah! Warn a girl, will ya?’

‘My apologies.’ He looked down at the road, and scuffed the sole of his boot over the rough surface. ‘This is a well-used road.’

‘I think it’s a main road in this area of Norway. We’ll probably find a town, and maybe even New Asgard, at the end of it. What does your GPS say, mister homing pigeon? Do we go left, or right?’

‘What is a “homing pigeon”? You mentioned it before...’

‘Oh, it’s a bird who has such a strong sense of direction, it always homes in on the place it lives, even when released hundreds of miles away from their home. They used these birds as carriers of small messages when our communication methods were still in their baby-shoes.‘

‘Ah, like ravens.’

‘Uh... no. At least, not our ravens.’

‘The ravens of Asgard used to carry messages.’

Darcy nodded in understanding.

‘Cool... So, left, or right?’

Loki nodded to the left.

‘West.’

‘Left it is-’ Darcy had planned on saying more, but from their right a pick-up truck emerged from around a bend in the road, slowing down until it came to a full stop next to them.

An elderly looking white haired man with a beard lowered his drivers side window and asked them something in what Darcy recognised to be Norwegian. She’d heard it spoken all the time when Jane and she had briefly visited Tromso a few years earlier. Or, over a decade earlier, now that she’d made a five year time jump.

She was about to respond in English, explaining that she didn’t understand him, when Loki answered him in his own language, and seemingly asked him a question. The man nodded, pointing down the road before gesturing to the empty seat beside him, and saying a few more things.

Loki answered him with a charming smile and a nod, making his way around the bonnet of the truck. Gently, he lowered Darcy until her feet touched the ground.

‘What’s going on?’ 

Loki opened the passenger door and put Mew Mew down onto the carpet in front of the passenger seat. Then, he sat down into the seat, bringing Darcy closer by taking her hand in his and pulling her toward the truck cabin. A blast of warm air met the frigid skin of her face when she came closer. It was kinda nice, not feeling half frozen for a change.

‘This is Einar.’ Loki said. ‘He will give us a ride to where this road splits off towards New Asgard. After that, he says it’s only a thirty-five minute walk down to the harbour where most of Asgard’s refugees have found a home. Come on, get in.’

‘Get in where?’ There was no room for her to sit down now that Loki had folded his long limbs into the truck.

Instead of answering her, Loki just lifted her into the cabin, eliciting a startled squeak, and deposited her unceremoniously onto his lap.

‘Right there.’ He said, a mischievous grin flitting over his features as he pulled her flush against him.

_Oh... Hel-lo..._

‘Uh... right.’ Nervously licking her lips, she scooted forward a bit, so she wasn’t _completely_ pressed up against six foot two of very well-endowed Asgardian prince. No matter how close he’d been to being up in her business in Hel, she’d decided to keep her distance for now. Too much crap had happened between them for her to just forgive and forget. And then she didn’t even mention the severe puzzlement she’d felt toward him ever since he’d sworn fealty to her. She definitely needed to get her head on straight before she could make any decisions concerning him, that was the one thing she was certain about.

Letting out a cleansing breath, she smiled at Einar. ‘Hi, I’m Darcy.’

‘I drive you, yes?’ The old man nodded at her. ‘You safe home for tonight, yes?’

‘Yes. Thank you.’ She nodded and sent him a grateful smile.

Einar started the truck and happily chatted with Loki in Norwegian as they drove off.

What would have taken them at least over an hour on foot, even with Loki’s fast pace, only took them about eight or nine minutes by truck. 

Before she knew it, Darcy had been deposited back onto the road by Loki, who thanked their chauffeur, lifted Mew Mew from between his feet, and handed her to Darcy. After which he himself got out of the truck cabin, closing the door behind him and giving the departing truck a last wave.

Looking down the broad, snow covered dirt track which would lead them to New Asgard, Darcy wrinkled her nose. This was going to be a slippery hike.

‘Not exactly a Rainbow Bridge, is it?’

‘That, it is not.’ Loki agreed as he came to stand next to her. ‘But even if it isn’t, I am still glad my people have managed to make their way to safety, and found a place to call home.’

His voice was quiet, but clear, and held an amount of wonder and affection Darcy hadn’t heard from him before.

She looked towards him sharply and took in the completely unguarded expression of relief and pride on his face as he gazed down the track.

‘You really do care, don’t you?’

He suddenly seemed to remember he wasn’t alone, and turned his attention to her as he schooled his features into something more guarded.

‘Yes. They are my people. I am responsible for their well-being.’

‘But... Isn’t Thor their king? Isn’t that his task, taking care of those people?’

‘Yes. He is. And, yes, it is. But you have to understand that both of us were raised to be kings. Though I now know that I was never meant to sit on the throne of Asgard, I cannot just shirk my upbringing. They are my people as much as they are his. Before I was killed by Thanos, my brother and I had reconciled, and we were working together to bring our people to safety. We were on our way to Midgard with our ship, when we were attacked by Thanos’ fleet. So many of us lost their lives that day. I am surprised there were enough people left to rebuild a semblance of our civilisation on Midgard.’

Loki took a deep breath, and started off down the track by taking the first step.

Darcy, who was feeling a bit warmer after their ride in the truck, bounded after him when he set a pace she would be able to keep up with, and walked beside him as they made their way down the mountain. The track meandered through a valley for a while, until, suddenly, the view opened up, and they could see all the way down to the dark green and black hued waters of a fjord. 

And there, in a lagoon-like bend of the fjord where it’s more shallow waters were a deep emerald colour, protected from the elements and the sea by a natural, rocky groyne and a man-built harbour wall, lay a sleepy fishing town with grey walled stone houses and colourful wood cabins, all with roofs covered with snow. Woodsmoke billowed from almost each and every chimney she saw, and from the houses that stood in the shadow of the mountainside, warm light spilled out into the early evening shadows through small windowpanes. In the distance, from the sea, a thick, greyish white fog came rolling in, slowly closing in on the town.

High above the harbour, on a natural elevation -a site of the sort which usually housed some kind of church-, stood a large, tall building that was unmistakably Asgardian in origin; it’s decorated walls and curved roof somehow radiating an otherworldly golden light.

‘Wow.’ Darcy breathed. ‘It glows.’

Loki, who had come to a full stop at the same time as she had, turned to her.

‘You are able to see that?’

‘Yeah.’ She nodded, and pulled up the sleeve of her coat. ‘And I can feel it, too. Here.’ She pointed at the Yggdrasil sigil on her right wrist. ‘It’s vague, but it feels warm. And... comforting, somehow.’

‘I should have known you’d be able to see it. You never behave as expected, and neither does your magic.’ Shaking his head with an amused smirk, Loki started walking again. 

‘Why shouldn’t I be able to see it?’ Darcy asked when she caught up with him.

‘Only those of Asgard should be able to see and feel it, as a sort of beacon, leading you home. Thor must have used a great deal of his power to make sure your body accepted the sigil, and thus lent you just enough of Asgard’s magic for you to be able to find your way home, should you ever get lost.’

‘Oh.’ That was such a beautiful way to put it. And he was right. Thor really was the last family she had left in this world. He was her brother. He was her home. And he’d made sure she could always find her way back to him. Tears sprung to her eyes and she sniffled as she brushed them away with her sleeve.

‘Are you crying?’ Loki sounded slightly anxious at discovering her happy tears and he abruptly stopped walking. ‘Why are you crying?!’

‘I’m sorry. It’s just... it’s such a beautiful thought. Always being able to find your way back home, no matter how far from it you find yourself. No matter how lost you are.’ She sniffled again, and looked up at him with wide, shining blue eyes. ‘You lost absolutely everything when you tried to save your brother, and your people. You died. And still, here you are. You’ve found your way home, Loki. You’ve followed Asgard’s call, and, against all odds, you’re _home_.’

Loki stood frozen, looking down at her with a stricken expression on his face, which slowly changed into something more soft and warm as he gazed at her longer. He gave her a gentle smile.

‘You are right.’ He said, and took her hand in his; weaving their fingers together. ‘And so are you, Darcy Lewis.’

She smiled up at him, and pulled him along by his hand; urging him into a brisk walk.

‘Come on, let’s go find Thor, and give him the biggest surprise of his life.’

Behind her, Loki let out a deep-voiced chuckle as he followed her down the road.

‘It will be a surprise, alright.’

It took them only twenty minutes to walk -oh, alright, so she almost ran down the mountain in her enthusiasm to get to Thor- to the town. 

When they finally came to a stop on the docks, next to a moored fishing boat, Darcy set down Mew Mew, and put her hands on her thighs as she tried to catch her breath. Loki, of course, wasn’t even winded. 

_So unfair._

‘So, what do we do now? Just ask random people where we can find their king?’

‘Are you looking for Thor?’

The feminine voice came from behind them, and both Darcy and Loki whirled around, startled by the sudden appearance of the stranger.

The woman, who carried a large, wooden crate full of fishing gear, was dressed in a thick black winter coat which hung loose over a knitted beige wool jumper. The legs of her orange, waterproof trousers fell over the pair of dark blue wellies on her feet. She raised an eyebrow at Loki.

‘Aren’t you supposed to be dead?’ She asked, deadpan.

Okay, so, maybe not such a stranger after all. At least, not to Loki.

‘Valkyrie.’ He said, giving her a small nod, his posture somehow tensing.

Curious, Darcy took in the stance of the beautiful, dark-haired woman. 

_Hm... She’s also cautious._

It was as if she watched two predators cautiously circle each other at the zoo. It didn’t matter that they weren’t even moving. She was both intrigued and amused. They both looked ready to pounce at one wrong move from the other party.

_Time for an intervention._

‘Hi, I’m-’

‘Not supposed to be here.’ The woman -Valkyrie- interrupted her without taking her eyes off of Loki.

‘O-kay. Rude!’ Darcy shot back. ‘I didn’t come all this way to argue with you, terribly strong fisher woman. So I won’t. Now, if you would be so kind to tell us where we can find Thor, then we’ll be on our way, and you can go back to hauling those big ass crates of... whatever you’re hauling.’

Her sassy reply caught the woman’s attention; her eyes reluctantly leaving Loki, and zeroing in on Darcy.

Darcy swallowed when she met Valkyrie’s hard gaze.

‘Hi.’ Why was her voice so squeaky all of a sudden? She gave the woman a small wave.

After a rapid assessment of her person, the woman refocused her attention on Loki; dismissing Darcy all-together. Apparently, Loki was the bigger threat in Valkyrie’s eyes.

‘You’re supposed to be dead.’ She repeated.

‘Yes, well, death doesn’t really agree with me.’ Was Loki’s dry retort. 

A snicker almost escaped Darcy at his snarky answer. She felt like it was kind of an inside joke she was in on.

‘So I see... And of all the places in the universe you could have gone to, you just had to come here. Why?’

‘I wanted to see how the mighty had fallen?’ The challenging smirk on Loki’s face didn’t bode for anything good. 

_Oh, no..._

A frown appeared between Valkyrie’s eyebrows, and she set down the crate.

‘Why are you here, Loki?’ She repeated her question. Her voice was now as tense as her posture. 

‘Maybe I’d just like to gloat over the misfortune of those who have wronged me in the past?’

_Ugh, why can’t he ever answer a question like a normal person, without stirring up a world of trouble? It’s like he can’t even help himself fucking things up for everyone, including himself._

‘If that’s the case, then you are not welcome here, Loki... _Leave._ ’ Valkyrie grabbed a very dangerous looking metal boat hook and widened her stance, as if she was expecting a fight.

Next to her, Darcy sensed how Loki also shifted his body, until he was partly blocking her with his body. She could see how he suddenly palmed a dagger that looked to be the twin of the one that rested against her leg.

Done with being ignored, and starting to become very annoyed with the situation, she cleared her throat, loudly, and stepped forward.

‘Would the both of you just _stop_?!’ She exclaimed. ‘Loki didn’t come here to _gloat_. I don’t even know _why_ he would say such a thing. Apart from him being an **_idiot_** who’s a glutton for punishment.’ Darcy glared up at Loki, and he had the gall to glare back at her. Growling low in her throat as she reached a new level of pissed off-ness, she turned back to Valkyrie. ‘Loki came here, because it’s _his_ home just as much as it is _yours_!... Now, I’ve had one _Hel_ of a day, _literally_ , and I’m very, _very_ tired. So, this is how this is gonna go. You tell us where Thor is, so we can go see him, and the both of you jack _asses,_ ’ She pointed between Loki and Valkyrie, ‘are ending this _ridiculous_ dick measuring contest, _right_. _now_. Or I swear to Thor, I will tase _both_ your crispified asses back to fucking Asgard even if I have to build the whole fucking planet up again from _scratch_ to do it. **_Is that clear?!_** ’ Darcy breathed fast when she was done monologuing, and electricity crackled around her body and down her right arm toward the hand that held Mew Mew; small sparks of lightning also jumping between the fingers of her left hand. She was feeling _so_ angry that it was spilling over. That was the only way to describe what she felt.

Valkyrie stared at her in surprise; as if she had never expected the tiny Midgardian woman to go off like she had.

‘Why are her eyes glowing?’

Loki sharply looked from where he’d been suspiciously eyeing Valkyrie back to Darcy and cursed.

‘Shit.’

‘She sparks like Thor did when we fought Hela... Why does she spark like Thor did when we fought Hela?’ Valkyrie now sounded slightly alarmed.

‘Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.’ Loki said as way of explanation.

‘What? You mean _that_ hammer? It holds Thor’s power? But he did fine without it during the battle for Asgard.’

‘It’s more of a conduit.’ Loki said, just before he stepped up to a panting, sparking Darcy.

_What the fuck is happening? This is nothing like my energy. It feels like Mew Mew on steroids! Holy shit!_

Far away, at sea, she heard a loud crack of thunder, very quickly followed by a flash and another loud bang that sounded much closer.

‘Darcy, listen to me. I need you to let go of Mjölnir... I know you are very angry, and I understand, you have every right to be, but the hammer reacts very strongly to your emotions. If we don’t stop the thunderstorm that’s brewing, it could do a lot of damage to New Asgard. And you don’t want that, do you?’ Loki’s voice was calm and quiet as he let his hand slide down her arm, ignoring the electric zaps the movement elicited, and wrapped his fingers around Mew Mew’s handle, just an inch from where Darcy was holding her. Darcy shook her head in answer, and, slowly, she released her tight hold on the hammer. ‘That’s it, darling, just let her go.’

Immediately after Loki took the hammer from her, the charge in the air lessened, and the lightning and thunder that had been inbound from the sea stopped completely, while the dark clouds building overhead dissolved within seconds.

‘I’m sorry.’ Darcy said, still in shock from how easily she had called down Thor’s lightning in her anger. It was something that had never happened before, not even when Mew Mew and she were having their little trips around the globe. In the future, she figured she _really_ had to check her temper whenever she held the weapon.

‘Isn’t she Midgardian? How did she do that?’ Valkyrie had come closer and observed her with badly veiled curiosity.

‘If only I knew.’ Loki said with a shrug. ‘She’s completely human, but she’s not. Her magic exists, I can feel it, but it doesn’t show up on any scans, so apparently it doesn’t exist at the same time that it does. It’s confounding.’

‘Heh, evidently, I’m Schrödinger’s Cat.’ When Darcy saw big question marks on both Loki’s and Valkyrie’s face, she elaborated. ‘Like, you know, both dead _and_ alive?’ Still no recognition... 

O _h, right, Asgardians aren’t familiar with Earth physicists..._

‘I’m human, _and_ I’m not. The energy inside me exists, _and_ it doesn’t. It’s like it’s here, _and_ not here. As if I’m both here, _and_ not here. Just like Schrödinger’s Cat-in-a-box, who is both dead _and_ alive. Simultaneously.’ She snorted in amusement. ‘Isn’t that a hoot?’ Then she sobered when something else occurred to her. ‘It would explain why Bruce couldn’t get _any_ readings on my Net, though, while it did send back results that could be calibrated and checked in real-time... It was there, _and_ it wasn’t... at the same time. Hmmm...’ New theories shot through her mind at the speed of light, many of which she immediately dismissed.

‘O-kay...’ Valkyrie said, pulling Darcy’s attention back to the present. The woman looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. ‘She’s completely off her rocker, that one.’ She said to Loki. ‘And on that note, I have to finish unloading my gear before nightfall.’ She put away the boat hook and picked the crate back up; nodding towards a house that sat higher up on the slope of the mountain than the rest of the houses. ‘You can find Thor in the house with the red door. It has an Ygdrassil sigil on the doorpost. Good luck.’ With that last, strange, sarcasm-rich piece of well-wishing, she walked away and disappeared through the sliding door of a warehouse.

‘What a strange woman...’ Darcy remarked as she stared after Valkyrie before turning back to Loki.

Loki observed her with a tilted head, narrowed eyes and a thoughtful expression on his face. 

‘What? Do I have something on my face?’ 

‘You are very, _very_ smart, but most people don’t see it that way, do they?’

‘Huh?’

‘When people see you, they see a tiny, and sweet, but scatterbrained woman, who has the habit to say the strangest and most outrageous things. At first people are surprised by your habit to just throw out the most far fetched opinions and ideas, but then they get used to it. They laugh it off and move on. They think you are the pretty and silly little bird, who is good for a laugh and nothing more, but you’re not. You are far from it. Instead, you’ve been the sharp-witted fox the entire time; one of the most clever people in the room.’

Darcy laughed heartily at his ridiculous observation.

‘Oh, no, I’m not that smart. I mean... I’m not even a real scientist. Not in the traditional sense of the word. I did get my degree in political science, but that’s not actual _science_ science. Jane is the smart one; _she’s_ the scientist with a capital S... I’m just the assistant who copies down space data readings, likes to play with coding, and helps out with building Jane’s machines. And I _really_ say _and_ do the stupidest things sometimes. Always have. I’m used to it.’ She shrugged. ‘Just like with the Schrödinger’s Cat thingy... In my mind, it just seemed to _fit_ , you know; but you saw how Valkyrie reacted, and she seems to be a reasonably smart person. So, maybe it _is_ a stupid idea... I don’t know... It was just a thought.’ Darcy deflated a bit, and sighed.

Loki shook his head, clearly not agreeing with her description of herself.

‘Your intelligence... It’s overlooked by most people, because you don’t reason in the same way as ninety percent of the Midgardian population does; but that does not mean that you’re dimwitted. It just means that you see certain things in a different, and sometimes even more clear light than most. The lady Jane must have seen it in you, otherwise I do not think she would have kept you on as an assistant all these years. And Thor saw it too. He would have _never_ claimed you as his sister and adopted you into Asgard’s royal house if you had only been a silly little girl without any wits.’ He took Darcy’s right hand, and pushed up her sleeve, exposing the Yggdrasil on her wrist. ‘My brother may be dense sometimes, but a fool he is not. He knew _exactly_ what he was doing when he gave you that sigil.’ He gently caressed the symbol with his thumb until it came to a rest on the small orb between its roots. It reacted to him immediately, the pulse of energy behind her sternum glowed into existence languidly and then flowed towards his touch. 

_Oh god..._ The sudden spicy sweetness of his magic on her tongue and the caress of his thumb on her wrist were a heady combination. Especially now that she was so tired, and had little to no energy to spare to resist him.

_Distraction! Distraction!_

‘Uh... Speaking of your brother... How about we go see him?’ Pulling her hand back out of his grip, she nodded toward the house Valkyrie had pointed out to them. ‘I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted, and I could use a meal, a shower, and a nap. Preferably in that order.’

‘Of course.’ Loki held out his elbow for her to take, suddenly looking very stern. Then, he took a deep breath; holding it for a moment before exhaling slowly.

Only then it occurred to Darcy that he might be nervous. 

He was supposed to be dead. Again. 

For good this time. 

And he wasn’t... Again. 

All the other times he’d been presumed dead, he’d survived by the skin of his teeth. First after being tortured into insanity by Thanos’ torture dude, and then after being impaled by that Dark Elf thingy.

This time, though, he’d definitely been dead as a doornail. Until he wasn’t; courtesy of Hela. And then he’d been transported back to Earth; courtesy of Mew Mew and herself.

Darcy put her hand into the crook of his elbow, and silently they strolled up the mountain path; Thor’s house coming closer with each step. She wondered how Thor would react to his brother once again coming back from the dead.

Before long, they found themselves in front of the red door.

Darcy licked her lips and looked up at Loki. 

Which one of them was going to knock?

Deciding that she was going to be the one, as Loki seemed to be frozen in place, she raised her hand to the door.

Suddenly, the door swung inward, and a fat, long-haired and long-bearded dude, dressed in grey sweats, a dirty cable-knit brown jumper, and busted up leather boots that had definitely seen better days, stepped into the doorway while he was halfway turned back into the house; yelling at someone.

‘Just stay right where you are, Korg, Meek. I will get us provisions for the battle! We will be victorious this time!’

He turned to exit the house, noticed the visitors on his doorstep, and froze.

Darcy’s eyes widened in surprise; her mouth falling open when she realised who she was looking at.

_What. The. Actual. Fuck?!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dumdumdumduuuuuuuuummmm...
> 
> If you liked, let me know. I love hearing from you guys, and I always leave a reply. (though I'm about 16 comments behind, but I'm planning on fixing that very soon... Like, tomorrow or so)  
> Kudos feed the muse, always! :D
> 
> Thanks for reading, my lovelies! 
> 
> Cheers!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor’s house. 
> 
> Warning: Death, blood magic, violence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello!
> 
> I’m back in this NaNoWriMo haze where I’m updating all my stories to get to 50000 words. And I have made it. I have won NaNoWriMo! Yay! :D
> 
> But you’re here for the story. Right?
> 
> So, Happy Reading!

Chapter 14

 

 

End of April 2023, Thor’s house, New Asgard, Norway.

 

The man in front of them, who looked nothing like the brother Darcy had left behind in the Avengers compound no more than maybe a day earlier -in her time-frame at least-, just stared at them uncomprehendingly. And blinked. And then stared some more.

Until he shook his head while mumbling under his breath -and under his bushy beard-, stepped backwards into the house, and slammed the door in their faces.

Within seconds, Loki and she heard muffled voices come from inside the house, followed by a silence, and then muffled voices again.

Darcy looked to the side and up to where Loki stood next to her at the same time as he let his gaze wander to her.

Did she look as bewildered as he?

‘Wow... That’s _so_ not how I thought that would go...’ Her tone totally expressed her bafflement to the T. If she hadn’t been so taken aback, she would have high-fived herself.

Loki just looked at her with raised eyebrows above wide eyes, and made a highly confused but agreeing sound in the back of his throat.

His gaze shot back to the door when it opened to reveal what Darcy could only describe as a rock-covered giant. A small giant it may have been, but still a giant from where she was standing at five foot even. It said a lot about the weirdness that had been her life for the past ten years when she didn’t even blink at the strange apparition. This walking giant pile of rocks wasn’t the most outrageous thing she’d seen since she and Jane had fallen in with Thor. Homicidal space elves, fire breathing robots, New York destroying intergalactic zombies, and an infinity stone possessed boss-lady blowing up cops all over a parkinglot all scored _much_ higher on her weird-o-meter. And then she wasn’t even mentioning a crispy goddess of death trying to murder her and her companion.

The giant stood slightly stooped in the doorway as he stuck his head outside. He took them in with a curious, but friendly expression on his... face. After a couple of seconds, he turned back into the house and loudly said, ‘You are not having an episode, my friend. I can see them too... Unless we are having a shared hallucination... Maybe it was the mushrooms?’

The man who used to be ripped like... Thor -Hell, the man who used to _be_ ripped Thor-, pushed past him with effort, because the stone giant’s bulk almost took up the whole of the small hallway.

‘ _Darcy?_ ’ Thor breathed the question in a disbelieving tone; his voice thin and brittle as he looked at her with eyes dark from grief.

Darcy threw him a tentative smile, not sure how to go about saying hello without completely breaking the incredibly fragile man in front of her.

‘Surprise?’ Humour was always good, right?

A violent breath left him before he gasped for air and turned to his brother.

‘Loki?’ His voice broke as he choked out the name.

Loki, who had stayed silent until then, nodded at him; his expression slightly wary, as if he wasn’t sure of the welcome he’d receive.

‘Hello...’ he swallowed. ‘...brother.’

‘ _Is it really you? Both of you?_ ’ Thor’s gaze flitted between Darcy and Loki when the whisper left his lips. A hesitant glimmer of hope lit up his eyes.

‘And Mew Mew.’ Darcy said, holding up the hammer from where she’d been holding her by her side, half hidden behind the folds of her coat.

Mew Mew, who Darcy had been aware of as more awake in the past few minutes, hummed contentedly inside Darcy’s head; sending her images of kittens, love hearts, and fluffy, bouncy lambs. Apparently, someone was very happy.

‘Mjölnir?!’ The almost palpable pain in Thor’s voice brought tears to Darcy’s eyes. ‘How?!’

‘We found her in Hel.’ Loki said quietly.

When Darcy held Mew Mew out for Thor to take, his hand reached out in a reflex, his expression one of longing, but at the last moment he pulled back as if bitten; the expression on his face morphing into one of grief fueled rage.

‘No! This is _not_ possible. You are all _gone_! This is a dream. This is not real. Not real. _Not real_.’ He took a step back, bumping into Rocky -as Darcy had started to call stone giant in her head-, and repeatedly hit himself on the side of the head with his palm, as if he was trying to dislodge the “dream” from his head. ‘You are _not_ real!’ He pointed at them while a glint of madness sparked to life in his gaze.

‘Thor, you can’t be dreaming, mate, cuz I’m awake, and I see them too.’ Rocky said, scratching his face in confusion and causing some debris to come loose and fall onto the wood floor with a clatter. ‘Whoops. Sorry, man. I’ll clean that up.’

‘Then they are intruders!’ Thor roared. ‘And they will _die_ for impersonating my kin!’ His huge battle axe-hammer-thing sudden flew into his right hand, on its way there knocking into Rocky and relieving the giant of a bit more rubble.

‘ _Oh shit._ ’ Darcy squeaked, reflexively lowering Mew Mew and taking a quick step backwards as she stared up in wide-eyed surprise at the enraged Norse god swinging the enormous weapon down in her direction.

Then her view became obscured, because Loki, stupid, brave, reckless Loki, threw himself between her and the axe, conjuring some sort of forcefield that had been probably meant to stop the weapon, but only slowed it down before it broke through and embedded itself deep into Loki’s chest; somehow rending his Asgardian armour as if it was made of paper.

Darcy screamed as Loki gasped in agony and went to his knees. His hands flew up and clamped reflexively around the weapon before he pulled it out and dropped it to the ground; black blood welling up almost immediately from the deep wound it had left behind.

She vaguely registered how Thor just stood there, frozen like a dumb-ass, looking at the carnage in front of him with a shocked expression on his face.

‘Loki!’ Darcy could only just catch Loki before he fell over backwards; her arms going around him as she followed him down to the ground, unable to carry his substantial weight. She supported him as well as she was able, as he half laid in her lap, half on the ground; her tries to hoist him up into her arms fruitless. She wasn’t strong enough.

Tears started flowing down her cheeks when she saw how his complexion became more grey and mottled with every passing second. Her pressing down on the wound to stop the bleeding didn’t do anything but cover her hands in his blood.

‘Oh no, no no nonononono...’

His eyes found hers as he coughed up blood. His hand went to her cheek, caressing her face with his thumb.

‘Alw... Always under... my protection.’

Wiping away the blood from his mouth with the sleeve of her coat, anger borne of a sudden despair bubbled up to the surface.

‘Obviously, _I’m_ not the one needing protection, you stupid, manipulative, _stupid_ asshole! You’re the one who keeps dying!’

A wet sound that could have been a laugh made its way up out of Loki’s chest before his hand fell away from her face and he went still; his eyes staring upward from half closed lids.

‘Loki?’ Darcy didn’t recognise her own voice at first; the mix of horror and denial made it unnaturally breathless and high. ‘ _Loki?!_ ’

She shook him gently, but there was no sign of life left in him.

‘Oh god.’ She wiped at her eyes with her hand to clear her sight from the tears that had started flowing down her cheeks; leaving behind streaks of black blood on her face.

She wasn’t even sure why she was so distraught. Rationally, she understood that there shouldn’t be this much grief inside her for this morally ambiguous male whom she’d known for just a day. _At most_. But here she was, feeling as if she’d lost _everything_.

The mental devastation wreaked havoc on her insides, making her energy... her magic, go haywire. The power behind her sternum exploded painfully through her veins, causing her skin to tingle to the point where it hurt, and break out in goosebumps all over her body.

Between one blink of her eyes and the next, a hazy film seemed to settle over everything around her, causing the world to go out of focus, and giving the landscape around her a faint, pulsing glow. When she looked down, she saw how Loki’s body lit up like a christmas tree; small lights starting to leak upwards into the sky from where he lay in her lap.

A gentle hand touching her shoulder made her jump.

‘Darcy?’ Came Thor’s voice, hesitant and grief filled. Apparently, he’d decided to believe his eyes now that he’d witnessed her distress at his brother’s death. By Thor’s own hand.

_Too little, too **LATE**!_

She whipped her head around and glared at him.

‘ _Don’t_ touch me!’ She bit out, only superficially registering the many layers in her voice as she uttered the command, before she turned back to where Loki’s light so easily slipped through her fingers when she tried to grasp onto it and put it back where it belonged; inside him.

Thor seemed to notice the change in her, because he snatched his hand back as if he’d been bitten. It didn’t stop him from talking to her, though.

‘Darcy, he is gone. You have to let him go. He is for the halls of Valhalla.’

‘ ** _NO!_** ’ The loud cry echoed between the mountains as the pressure behind her sternum grew to uncomfortable levels and the ground beneath her started to vibrate and rumble. ‘He is staying with _ME_!’ And she didn’t care what she had to do to make it so. ‘He _promised_!’ She needed to bring him back! He had to come _back_!

‘Darcy! What...’ Thor’s voice was cut off when a mighty tremor shook the mountain, almost knocking him from his feet, and causing far away avalanches and nearby creaking houses and sloshing sea-water.

Breathing fast, panting almost, Darcy allowed the power inside her to build and build, until it felt as if she’d burst at the seams if she made one wrong move. Still, she somehow knew she needed even more if she wanted to bring Loki back. More energy, more power, more _magic_. She placed her hand on the ground, and curled her fingers into the icy soil, forcibly waking up the power which lay dormant under the snow; pulling the Earth’s energy into her being. It came willingly, and before long, the heat and pressure inside her had increased into a hellish inferno even worse than the one that had ravaged her in Hel. She groaned from the strain the influx of power caused throughout her body. She felt like a waterballoon stretched to its furthest limits, ready to burst; only a thin layer of skin seperating her from oblivion.

The air around her and Loki had come to life in a slow swirl, and then picked up speed until only she and Loki were inside the quiet eye, while the rest of the world faded into the howl of a hurricane; mirroring the volatile storm of emotion inside her.

She thought she heard Thor call out to her from afar, but she didn’t pay him any attention. All her focus was on the male laying in front of her, whose light now slowly concentrated into a sphere of power, drifting up from his lifeless body. She saw how a translucent spectre of Loki’s former self shimmered into existence, kneeling next to his own corpse; the sphere in the centre of his chest glowing a warm golden green.

Frowning, she looked up at him as she gasped for air; her lungs fighting to keep expanding in the inferno that raged inside her chest. It looked as if he was trying to tell her something, his eyes conveying an urgency and worry as his lips moved, forming words she couldn’t understand over the howling of the wind.

Then, the metaphysical projection suddenly flickered and faded, mid-sentence, an expression of desperation gracing Loki’s features when he realised he couldn’t keep the projection intact. After a few seconds, only the bright sphere remained. When it started to slowly float upwards into the night sky, Darcy’s right hand shot out reflexively. To her surprise, she was not only able to touch it, but also stop its ascent.

Grabbing it before it could escape her reach, she hissed when she made contact with its white hot surface. It seared her skin in the most painful of ways. Smoke rose from where Loki’s condensed power touched the sizzling palm of her hand. The stench of her own burning flesh reached her nostrils at the same time as Loki’s cinnamon-and-burnt-sugar magic taste burst over her tastebuds; the combination so nauseating that she almost threw up, but she refused to let go, all her focus -her whole being- concentrated on keeping it, him, from going where she couldn’t follow.

‘ _NO_.’ She growled when the power orb -soul?- threatened to escape her hold, and reached out with her other hand; clenching the sphere between both hands as the veins in her hands and arms, and no doubt also throughout the rest of her body, lit up with a rose-golden light; randomly criss-crossing in pretty patterns under her skin.

Instinctively, she knew that this heralded a tipping point. It was now or never. Whether the tipping point concerned her, or Loki, or both of them, she didn’t know, but there was no going back. Only forward.

This knowledge helped her to find the strength needed to push through the painful, volatile whirlwind of power -which filled her to the brim, and then some-, and aim it into the general direction of the body laying in front of her.

At the same time as she violently slammed the orb back into Loki’s chest, she forced a good amount of her magic into Loki. The resulting pressure wave caused a fissure in the rock beneath his body, and the whirlwind which still whipped around them dissolved into nothing, leaving an unnatural stillness. It was as if nature itself held its breath.

With the edge taken off, the substantial amount of remaining energy pulsed inside her like a heartbeat, filling her with warmth instead of the searing pain she’d felt before, her body somehow, inexplicably, adjusting to the magic’s immense dimensions.

Darcy suddenly understood how the TARDIS must feel. Her mental, or magical, as it were, boundaries had stretched to house a gargantuan amount of power. She was now so much bigger on the inside, it was daunting. It made her dizzy.

Breathing through the vertigo, she focused on Loki, who was not moving, and not breathing.

Once again, the light she’d forced back into his body began leak from him, small specs of power binding together to form another orb.

‘No! Nonononono!’ Sobbing in her denial, she forced the orb back into Loki’s body, only for it to form once more.

Through her tears, Darcy witnessed how this time, when she went for the orb, she was unable to grasp the magic with her burnt hands; it slipped through her fingers like water.

‘Darcy, you have to let him go.’ Only now did she notice another presence next to her. Thor gently took her singed hands into his, pulling them away from Loki’s body.

Crying out her despair, she fell sideways into Thor as she watched how the sphere containing Loki’s power -essence?- slowly re-formed until there was no light left inside his body.

Together, she and Thor looked on when the orb started its ascent into the heavens.

‘I am _so_ sorry, brother.’ Thor said, his voice breaking on the last word as his face scrunched up in grief. ‘Hug mother for me when you find yourself in Valhalla.’

 _This is a mistake!_

The protest of her inner voice came so unexpected that it startled her, and Darcy gasped from the sudden feeling of utter wrongness that filled her. This wasn’t right. Something... was so very _wrong_.

A gut feeling told her that this whole stupid Loki’s ascension thing was not what was supposed to happen. He had to stay. She didn’t know why, but he _had_ to stay.

By _any_ means necessary.

‘NO!’ She pulled her hands out of Thor’s grip and jumped to her feet; making a dive for the sphere.

It was no use, though. The energy slipped through her fingers as if it wasn’t even there.

‘ _NO!_ ’ How was this possible? Not two minutes before, she’d been able to hold onto it.

_It’s as if it isn’t even there..._

She could see it...

She could even touch it... some of the time...

It was there...

But it wasn’t...

_Just like me. Schrödingers... freaking... Me!_

What did it mean?

Loki was dead.

And _she_ wasn’t. So it would be fair to say that she shouldn’t have been able to do the things she had done, like, holding on to Loki’s power...

Still, she could hold onto his energy at one point.

But she couldn’t at another.

It was as if she, herself, flipped on and off like a light.

In and out of existence?

_One leg in the world of the living, one in the underworld?_

_Like flippin’ **Persephone**?!_

But where was the switch? Who controlled the switch? Did she? _Could_ she?

She couldn’t hold on to Loki...

Or could she?

Her eyes flicked from the floating orb -which was now out of her reach- to his body. Had she been too focused on holding on to the magic of his ‘soul’, while the answer lay with his body?

‘ _Holy. shit. That’s it._ ’ She whispered. His body had been too damaged for his essence to return. ‘His body needs to be healed.’ She turned to Thor as she said it. She knew he had some healing powers. ‘Heal him.’

Thor looked at her uncomprehendingly.

‘He is dead. His body cannot be healed.’ He said.

‘Of course he can be healed. Hela did it. After he’d been dead for far longer than he has been now.’ A stubborn tone took over the sadness in her voice.

Her brother shook his head as he stood. He looked down at her with sad eyes.

‘I’m sorry. I am not Hela. I cannot heal, or bring back, the dead. It takes a different kind of god. A different kind of magic.’

Darcy crossed her arms as she glared up at him.

‘ _You_ killed him. _You_ have to bring him back.’

‘I’m sorry.’ Thor repeated his apology. ‘I cannot. Bringing back those who are gone is not within my power. Not even my mother would have attempted it, and she was raised by witches. It just takes too mu-’

‘Then tell me what is needed.’

‘Darcy-’

‘ _ **Tell me!**_ ’ She cried; feeling how her window was closing. It was almost too late, and it made her reckless and angry. Angry with Thor, angry with the universe which seemed to go out of its way to fuck with her, and angry with her own ineptness.

Thor sighed.

‘Apart from the god attempting the resurrection needing to be immensely powerful, it also takes a blood sacrifice... one that is freely given. If I understood my mother correctly, _when she warned **me** against it_, it will be a life for a life.’

‘What?’ The horror she felt was clearly audible in her voice, and her stomach dropped when the disappointment hit her hard. ‘We can’t just go and _kill_ someone.’

‘Precisely.’ Thor seemed relieved at her moral compass was at least still pointing north.

Darcy started to pace.

‘Shit shit shit shit... There has to be a way... There _has_ to be.’ She muttered softly as she contemplated what Thor had told her. There _had_ to be a way to bring Loki back without committing murder.

With every step she took, the sheath which housed Loki’s dagger pulled at her leg, and she laid her hand over it to keep it from shifting. It annoyed her to no end having it bounce against her leg with every step she took.

Until she felt the pulse of Loki’s residual magic inside the dagger.

Had she always been able to feel it and not realised? Or was this new? A consequence of the power which had taken its seat inside her?

Lifting her head, she took a deep breath of the frigid Norse air to clear her mind from any cobwebs, and looked around the elevation she and Thor were standing on. Twilight had set in, and a light fog rolled into the town from the sea.

Tilting her head, Darcy listened to the muted sounds of a sea side town at dusk. The lapping of the water against the boats, the last of the seagulls calling out before they hunkered down for the night, and far in the distance a dog who barked one, two, three times, and then fell quiet.

As she stood there, slowly, everything went quiet; even the water.

A movement at her side made her aware that Thor stood beside her, looking out over the town and the sea. He said something, but she couldn’t hear him.

The quiet that surrounded her seeped into her mind; it calmed her.

In this tranquil state, she looked down at her hands, and distractedly noticed the drying streaks of Loki’s blood on her hands.

 _What if I use some of my own blood? Is my magic strong enough to pull this off without the blood loss or the energy transfer killing me?_

It sure felt that way with the way the energy swirled, and danced, and sang inside her. She had never felt better, or more powerful, than in that moment.

And would it even matter if _she_ lived? She wondered detachedly.

All she knew was that _Loki_ had to live. She knew it from the tips of her fingers to the most outer reaches of her consciousness, and maybe even beyond that.

It was mega weird.

But what else was new. Her life had been weirdness personified for years now.

She _had_ to try.

Toeing off her boots, she wiggled her feet through the snow until her skin touched the earth. She was gonna need so much juice for this... A shiver travelled down her spine when she remembered how much it had hurt before. This time would be a multitude of that. No doubt about it.

Unbuttoning her coat, she shrugged it off her shoulders, and handed it to a confused looking Thor. Somehow, the frigid air did not bother her as much as it had before.

Pushing up the sleeves of the leather-like armour that still encased her body in spite of Loki’s passing, Darcy took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders.

‘ _To infinity, and beyond..._ ’ The whisper had left her lips before she even realised she’d uttered the words. A soft, amused snicker escaped her when she realised the motto was so very much on point. She had no idea what she was doing, or where she was going with this whole blood magic schtick, but she did know that she would be pushing herself beyond any and all boundaries she had. After this... nothing would ever be the same.

Not in the last place because she probably wouldn’t survive.

An unhinged giggle left her when she thought back to Loki calling her mad. Oh, how he had been right. Darcy Lewis was certifiably insane; pushed past her limits by too much loss and too much grief.

‘Here goes nothing.’ She said, and allowed the Earth energy to flow up through the soles of her bare feet; replenishing the energy she’d lost when she had tried to push Loki’s energy back into his broken body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, cliffie cliffie cliffie. Sorry about that. I’m working on the next chapter, so it shouldn’t be too long.
> 
> If you liked, please let me know through the comments, and/or leave one of those tasty Kudos if you haven’t already. :)
> 
> Thank you!  
> XO
> 
> PS. As I’ve been getting distressed comments, understand that this is part one of a very long chapter. And know that I don’t do sad endings, so be patient and bear with me. There’s a method to this madness. (Or, at least, I hope so 🙃😉)


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